Sen. Standridge files legislation to protect minors from gender transition medications, surgeries

Sen. Standridge files legislation to protect minors from gender transition medications, surgeries

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, has filed four pieces of legislation to protect minors from life-changing gender transition hormones and surgery that could render them unable to have children as adults.  The bills also allow lawsuits to be filed against health care providers and adults who violate the provisions of these measures.

Standridge said the hope is to prevent children from later suffering mental health and physical complications, including infertility, because of decisions made before they had the maturity or knowledge necessary to undergo such procedures.

“There are many things in Oklahoma we allow adults to do, but not children, even with parental permission, in order to protect them,” Standridge said.  “Minors can’t use or possess alcohol or tobacco or get tattoos in our state, even with their parents’ approval.  There are life-long ramifications for these things that children and teens simply do not have the maturity to fully understand. Clearly that applies to drugs or surgeries to change a child’s gender.  My bills are about protecting Oklahoma children from medications or surgeries they may regret the rest of their lives.”

Senate Bill 786 would prohibit doctors or other health care providers from providing hormone therapy or puberty blocking drugs to anyone under the age of 18 unless such drugs are medically necessary – gender transition would not be considered a medical necessity.  SB 788 would prevent a parent or guardian from consenting to the administration of such drugs if the individual is under 18.

SB 787 would prohibit doctors or other health care professionals from providing gender transition surgery to anyone under 18, while SB 789 would prohibit a parent or guardian from consenting to such a surgery for a minor. 

All four measures would allow civil lawsuits to be filed against violators of each of these measures.

“My legislation will give minors the ability to hold their parent or guardian and medical professionals accountable when they realize one day the great damage that has been done to them physically and psychologically,” Standridge said. “The Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians requires doctors do no harm to their patients, but there could be no greater harm to a child then to fulfill a fleeting desire with life-changing and body-mutilating drugs and procedures from which the child will likely never recover.”