Lawmakers in Tennessee have introduced a bill that would ban the controversial practice of gender transition for minors in the state.
Republican Majority Leaders in the state legislature, William Lamberth and Jack Johnson filed the Protecting Children from Gender Mutilation Act this Wednesday which if passed, would effectively ban doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and performing other gender-reassignment-related surgeries on minors which would lead to medical transition. With this bill, patients and their families would be able to sue for damages and seek an additional $25,000 penalty for each violation.
“This bill is about protecting children,” said State Senator Johnson. “Under no circumstances should minors be allowed to undergo irreversible elective procedures to mutilate body parts and intentionally harm their reproductive systems. This practice comes with lifelong health complications that children are not capable of understanding.”
The bill was passed by the Republican majority in the state legislature after Daily Wire host Matt Walsh released a video of a doctor from Nashville University Hospital who was caught on video referring to controversial gender-transition procedures as “huge money makers.”
We can't do anything about the fact that Republicans in some other states chose losers like Dr. Oz. But we aren't going to let that stop us from fighting and winning.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) November 9, 2022
Republican Tennessee state lawmakers had earlier sent a letter to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) urging them to “halt all permanent gender transitioning surgeries on minor children.” Following the request of the lawmakers, VUMC paused all transition surgeries on minors in October.
Tennessee is not the first state to effectively ban gender transition surgeries. Just last week, the state legislature in Florida and the state’s medical boards voted to issue a complete ban on medical transition for minors.
“Interfering or destroying the healthy, normal reproductive organs of a child for the purpose of altering their appearance is profoundly unethical and morally wrong,” Tennessee State Representative Lamberth said. “Tennesseans across our state have demanded an immediate call to action.”
“Through the passage of House Bill 1/Senate Bill 1, Tennessee will protect vulnerable children who cannot give informed consent for adult decisions they aren’t ready for,” Rep. Lamberth continued.
Aside from the right to sue doctors, the bill also allows children to bring a civil cause of action against their own parents if a parent assists or forces the minor to facilitate the medical transition.
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