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Texas enforces BAN on gender-related medical procedures for teens

  Texas has implemented  its ban on gender-related medical procedures for teenagers , a move hailed by proponents who cited the need to prot...

 Texas has implemented its ban on gender-related medical procedures for teenagers, a move hailed by proponents who cited the need to protect children from irreversible medical procedures that could harm their physical and mental health.

Last June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 14 that enshrines prohibitions on medical interventions to "validate transgender identities." Parents of gender-confused children and LGBT advocacy groups challenged SB 14 in court, with a state district judge ruling that it violated the rights of transgender children and their families to seek appropriate medical care.

However, the Texas Supreme Court overturned the lower court's ruling and allowed SB 14 to take effect. With the state high court's decision, the Lone Star State now stands as the most populous state to enact such a ban.

SB 14 taking effect did not sit well with the PBS television network, with its White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez voicing out her fears. During the Sept. 1 episode of the network's "PBS NewsHour," she told program host John Yang that the ban threatens the health of transgender children inside and outside of Texas.

Barron-Lopez recounted asking the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about the issue. His office replied that it will fully enforce SB 14, and defended it as a measure to protect the youth from "damaging gender transition interventions."

The PBS correspondent also echoed the lie pushed by major American medical associations regarding medical gender interventions. She told Yang that such procedures "help transgender youth" and "prevent suicidal ideations." But in reality, such interventions cause long-term regrets for teenagers who undergo them.

SB 14 carries severe consequences for offenders

SB 14 carries severe consequences for violators, including the revocation of medical licenses for healthcare providers. The law prohibits healthcare providers from administering gender-related medical interventions to teenagers such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries. It also mandates that any patients already undergoing such treatments must be gradually weaned off them.

Texas joins more than a dozen other states that have moved to restrict gender-related medical interventions – including Nebraska, Florida and Oklahoma. It also joins several other red states that advanced bans on such procedures for minors at the state level, prompting legal challenges across the country.

Currently, 22 states have enacted laws prohibiting some form of medical intervention for gender-confused minors, encompassing treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies or surgeries. Over half of these state bans have already gone into effect, while others remain entangled in legal battles.

While SB 14 is effective within the borders of the Lone Star State, its repercussions reach far beyond Texas. Proponents of the law argued that such gender-related medical interventions are unsafe and untested, pushing back against doctors who deem genital mutilation as a money-making venture. 

The debate centering on SB 14 underscores the urgent need for clear and comprehensive guidelines at the federal level to safeguard the rights and well-being of children and teenagers across the United States.

 

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