Texas governor signs law banning gender-transition healthcare for minors

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill into law on Friday, banning gender-transition healthcare for children.

The law goes into effect on Sept. 1, and forbids healthcare providers in the state from performing surgeries related to gender transition to children. Likewise, healthcare providers are also not allowed to prescribe hormones or puberty blockers to children under the law.

Those who are found violating this law could have their medical license revoked.

Several exceptions are given in the law to children already undergoing gender transition, such as those currently receiving hormones or puberty blockers and children who have attended 12 or more sessions of mental health counseling over a period of at least six months before they began treatment. However, the law requires that these children are slowly taken off them “in a manner that is safe and medically appropriate.”

The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement on May 18 that it would file a lawsuit over this law.