The Tennessee Senate passed a bill prohibiting medical providers from offering gender-transitioning treatment to transgender youth.
The legislation passed Monday along party lines in a 26-6 vote, with every Republican voting for the bill.
The prohibited treatment includes puberty blockers, hormone treatments and gender-transitioning surgeries. Doctors could risk losing their medical licenses if they continue providing the treatment.
Republican state Sen. Jack Johnson, who sponsored the bill, said the measure was crafted to protect children.
“It helps the minor children who otherwise might be subjected to surgical procedures that remove body parts or being prescribed medications that make permanent changes to a child’s body,” he said.
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Opponents of the bill, however, argue that the government should be dictating whether a person receives such medical treatment.
“We find the majority of people who do this did indeed know early that this is something that they wanted to do,” Sen. Heidi Campbell said. “I would just say inevitably it doesn’t really matter because this isn’t a decision that should be made by the government, this is something that should be left to people and families to make with their medical providers.”
Johnson said transgender children’s mental health care should be prioritized over gender-transitioning treatments.
The bill is currently with the Tennessee House, which will debate the measure before holding a vote.
A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement that the governor’s office “looks forward to working with the General Assembly to pass legislation that protects Tennessee children.”
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