AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate on Wednesday gave initial approval to a bill that would ban certain medical treatments for transgender youth, but only after exempting anyone already receiving this care.
Senate Bill 14 by Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, would require the state medical board to revoke the licenses of doctors who provide puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical interventions to patients under 18 for “the purpose of transitioning a child’s biological sex.” It would also block taxpayer money for entities or individuals that facilitate the provision of these treatments.
Campbell amended the bill during debate Wednesday to allow minors who are receiving this care 90 days before the bill goes into effect on Sept. 1 to continue these treatments. The amendment passed without opposition.
Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, worked with Campbell on the change after hearing from transgender youth and their families.
“We felt that people who were currently undergoing treatment, they would have the ability to continue and finish their treatment,” Menéndez said during discussion of the change. “I appreciate you taking this step in the right direction.”
The bill passed along partisan lines by a 19-12 vote. It must be approved once more by the Senate before it heads to the House for more debate.
Campbell said she authored the medical care ban because while she believes the government should remain out of Texans’ lives, it must step in when an industry will not properly regulate itself. She repeatedly described gender dysphoria, a diagnosable issue recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, as a “delusion.”
“Delusion is simply a false belief about an external reality, that despite evidence to the contrary, they still hold. Here, delusion has given a polite term: gender dysphoria,” Campbell, an ER doctor, said on the Senate floor.
The Mayo Clinic defines gender dysphoria as the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity is different from their sex assigned at birth. Transgender means identifying as a different gender than one’s sex at birth; not all transgender people experience dysphoria or seek treatment for it.
The American Medical Association, American Psychological Association and other state and national physicians’ groups support age-appropriate and individualized medical treatments for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. These treatments, as a whole, are often referred to as “gender-affirming care.”
Campbell said her bill would not prohibit doctors from utilizing these same treatments for issues not related to gender identity, like precocious puberty, endometriosis or breast cancer.
The medical care ban is one of several GOP priorities affecting the LGBTQ community this session, and mirrors similar bills in several red states across the country. Legislation to restrict drag queen performances and regulate LGBTQ issues in schools is also advancing.
On Wednesday, the Senate also gave preliminary approval to a bill that would prohibit changing the sex listed on a minor’s birth certificate unless to fix a clerical error or, in the case of an intersex person, to choose a sex if one wasn’t at the time of birth.
A bill to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in college sports became the first LGBTQ legislation to pass through either chamber Wednesday, when the Senate approved it by a vote of 19-10; it now heads to the House for more debate.
Menéndez offered two more amendments to the bill banning treatment for transgendered youths, both of which failed.
In addition to Menéndez, several Democrats spoke against the bill.
“I’ve been here 50 years. The subject was never debated by the legislature until last session,” said John Whitmire of Houston, who has served in the Senate since 1983. “I would pray that it’s not just politics, but it’s genuine concern for the health and welfare of the transgender children.”
Activists on both sides of the debate supported the amendment to exempt current current patients. Texas Values, a prominent Christian advocacy group, confirmed the organization is OK with it, and in a statement, the state’s largest LGBTQ rights advocacy group thanked Menéndez for his work on the amendment but said “it is not enough.”
“For all the talk of ‘parental rights,’ senators have decided to strip the parents of trans kids of their God-given right to make health care decisions for their child with their doctors,” Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez said. “Our community will continue to fight this bill every step of the way. Trans kids deserve better.”
