(Reuters) – Alabama’s Republican Governor signed Friday into law a bill that was passed just a few days earlier and would make it illegal to provide gender-affirming care for transgender teenagers.

This makes it a felony and can result in up to 10 year imprisonment.

Governor Kay Ivey stated that “I strongly believe that if God made you boy, then you’re a boy” and that if He made you girl, then you’re a girl. We should particularly protect our children against these life-altering, radical drugs and surgeries at an especially vulnerable time in their lives.

American Academy of Pediatrics had requested that Ivey veto this measure. Gender-affirming treatment saves lives, according to both mental and medical professionals.

The chief executive of the academy, Mark Del Monte said that this legislation targeted vulnerable young people, and put them at high risk of mental and physical harm. He made these remarks in a statement on Thursday. Criminalizing medically needed, evidence-based services is dangerous.

Civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, vowed that they would challenge the law before the courts.

Alabama’s law on transgender youth is one of many measures that have been passed in Republican-led States ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.

Ivey also signed Friday’s bill that requires public school students to use changing and bathroom facilities that are gender-matched on birth certificates. The bill was amended at the last minute to prohibit classroom discussions on gender identity or sexual orientation in certain grades.