Texas House passes bill banning sex change treatments for minors

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – After hours of debate and opposition from Democratic lawmakers, the Republican-led Texas House on Friday passed a bill that would ban sex change treatment for minors identifying as transgender, Yahoo News reports. Introduced by Republican Rep. Tom Oliverson, the bill will be voted on once more before being sent back to the Senate for approval as an amendment; if the change is approved, the bill will be signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Under the proposed legislation, doctors would be banned from giving sex-change treatments, including surgery and the prescription of puberty blockers, to minors under the age of 18, Yahoo reports. Doctors who violate the law would have their medical license revoked. A doctor who violates the rule would have their medical license revoked. Moreover, doctors or facilities which offer sex change treatments would not be allowed to receive public funding.

The bill provides that minors who began puberty-blocking treatments prior to June 1 and who had gone to therapy at least 12 times over the course of six months, would be weaned off the medication.

In a statement to lawmakers about his bill, anesthesiologist Rep. Oliverson likened gender dysphoria to anorexia and said treatment should focus on mental health care. “I don’t mean that flippantly,” Oliverson said. “What I mean is that anorexia is also a distorted perception of body image, where a patient sees themself differently and feels uncomfortable when they look in the mirror.”

“This [bill[ does not ban all treatments for this mental health condition, gender dysphoria,” Oliverson said. “It actually redirects patients, parents and providers to scientifically proven methods that have been around for a long time — counseling, psychotherapy. We don’t treat mental health disorders with surgery. We treat mental health disorders with mental health treatments.”

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