Texas bans genital mutilation surgeries for minors
Texas legislature passed a bill Wednesday that bans genital mutilation surgeries and puberty blockers for minors. If signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, this bill will take effect on September 1, 2023.
Under the bill, known as Senate Bill 14, medical professionals are prohibited from prescribing hormone blockers or performing “gender transitioning” procedures including mastectomies, sterilization, removal of healthy tissue or body parts, or prescribing infertility-inducing drugs, on children under the age of 18.
Minors who are already in the process of receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy are required to be weaned off them "over a period of time and in a manner that is safe and medically appropriate.”
Texas joins Florida and nearly a dozen other states that have passed similar legislation over the past few months, Texas being the largest U.S. state to do so.
In defense of the bill, St. Sen. Bob Hall, (R) Van Zandt County, comments:
We protect children against lots of things. We don't let them smoke, we don't let them drink, we don't let them buy lottery cards. There are a lot of things we don't let them do because we're protecting them from getting involved in something not knowing what they would do.
