A bill to stop minors from undergoing medical treatment to change genders is headed to the desk of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, the latest effort by Republican state legislators to rein in the rapidly expanding gender-transition field.
The House voted 77-16 on Thursday to give final approval to House Bill 0001, which would bar medical professionals from treating those under 18 with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for the purpose of gender transition.
Republican state Rep. William Lamberth, the bill’s sponsor, said children and teens struggling with their gender identity need “mental health treatment, they need love and support, and many of them need time,” not drugs and surgeries.
“When a child has gender dysphoria or body dysphoria, when they are uncomfortable with their appearance, the worst thing you could possibly do is say, well, if we just start cutting off body parts or giving you medication that was never designed for this, that will alter your body forever,” Mr. Lamberth said. “That’s the worst thing you can do.”
Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson argued that “the reality is, we are starting to legislate medicine.”
“Typically I hear a lot of discussion about families being able to make determinations for themselves,” she said. “If a doctor and a family feels that taking hormone blockers is going to be healthy and lifesaving for these children, then that’s a decision that should be made.”
Mr. Lee is expected to sign the bill as state legislatures respond to the U.S. boom in youth gender-transition clinics.
LGBTQ advocates argue that such procedures offer young people who identify as the opposite sex potentially life-saving care, citing the risk of suicide among trans-identifying youth, while critics counter that the potentially irreversible procedures may do more harm than good.
Republican governors in Utah and South Dakota have signed bills this year blocking gender-transition procedures for those under 18. Other states considering similar measures this year include Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
The Tennessee bill allows children and teens who began gender transition prior to July 1, the date the measure goes into effect, to phase out the course of treatment by March 31, 2024. The measure also includes an exception for children being treated for disorders of sexual development.
The measure creates a cause of action for minors harmed by the treatment to sue healthcare providers or even their parents if they consented to the drugs or procedures. The statute of limitations is 30 years from the time the minor reaches 18 or 10 years from the time of death if the minor dies.
Healthcare providers who knowingly violate the law could be subject to an investigation by the attorney general’s office and fines of $25,000 per infraction.
A half-dozen states have passed limitations on youth gender-transition treatments since 2021. The laws in Alabama and Arkansas have been enjoined by courts pending the outcome of litigation.
Tennessee Republicans called for an investigation into the Vanderbilt University Medical Center after a video surfaced last year showing a Nashville doctor calling the gender-transition surgeries “huge money makers” for hospitals.
Vanderbilt paused procedures on minors in October to review its practices. The hospital said it has performed five gender-transition surgeries on minors over age 16 each year since the transgender clinic opened in 2018.
• This story was based in part on wire-service reports.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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