Texas is on the brink of banning transgender minors from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapies, treatments that leading medical groups say are .
The Senate has voted 19-12 Wednesday to accept鈥檚 House version and send it to Gov.鈥檚 desk, two days after the lower chamber. Legal groups opposing the bill 鈥� including the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, Lambda Legal and the Transgender Law Center 鈥� said Thursday they will launch a legal challenge to try and block the legislation from taking effect.
SB 14 is a legislative priority for the Republican Party of Texas, which opposes any efforts to validate transgender identities. It鈥檚 also a key proposal among that would restrict the rights and representation of LGBTQ Texans this session, amid a growing acceptance of .
Authored by New Braunfels Republican Sen. , SB 14 would prohibit trans Texans under the age of 18 from accessing transition-related medical treatments including puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries 鈥� though surgeries are rarely performed on kids.
The bill would also require trans youth who are already getting this care to be 鈥渨eaned off鈥� in a 鈥渕edically appropriate鈥� manner. This is slightly out of step with the abrupt cutoff mandated by, but the upper chamber has chosen not to ask for a conference committee to iron out the difference.
In pushing for SB 14, Campbell and other backers have disputed the research and science behind transition-related care. They also say the legislation is an effort to save Texas families from health care providers who are taking advantage of a 鈥渟ocial contagion鈥� and pushing life-altering treatments on kids who may later regret taking them.
鈥淲e are the Legislature 鈥� our job is to protect people,鈥� Sen. , R-Edgewood, said. 鈥淲e protect children against lots of things. We don鈥檛 let them smoke. We don鈥檛 let them drink. We don鈥檛 let them buy lottery cards. 鈥� And so we are doing the right thing.鈥�
Medical groups, trans Texans and their families, however, say this care is vital to trans youths鈥� mental health. Treatments are also not rushed, they say. Instead, it鈥檚 a time-intensive process to access this care, including.
They have also that the House version鈥檚 proposed tapering off process is still likely to bring physical discomfort and psychological distress to a group that is already more likely to be at risk of depression and suicide than their peers. Some have also called it forced detransitioning.
鈥淭hat would push me past my breaking point,鈥� said Randell, a from North Texas who has been on hormone therapies for the past few years. He agreed to speak with The Texas Tribune if only this full name isn鈥檛 used to protect his safety.
If Abbott supports SB 14 becoming law, the proposed ban would take effect on Sept. 1. His office didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment. Though in 2022, the governor had the state鈥檚 child welfare agency to investigate parents, who provided their trans kids access to transition-related care, for child abuse.
Pending his support, Texas 鈥� home to in the country, including around 30,000 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 鈥� would become one of that restrict transition-related care for trans minors. The ACLU, Lambda Legal and other advocacy groups for LGBTQ rights have sued several of them.
Texas lawmakers 鈥渁re hellbent on joining the growing roster of states determined to jeopardize the health and lives of transgender youth, in direct opposition to the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care as appropriate and necessary,鈥� the legal groups said in a joint statement Thursday. 鈥淲e will defend the rights of transgender youth in court, just as we have done in other states engaging in this anti-science and discriminatory fear-mongering.鈥�
And already, the prospect of losing access to these treatments has prompted many parents of trans kids 鈥� including Randell鈥檚 鈥� to consider traveling out of state for care or flee Texas altogether, costly options that are not available to all. Others have also spoken publicly about not wanting to abandon the community that they love or that their families have been in for generations.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to be able to know how many children will be 鈥榮aved,鈥� as it鈥檚 been called, from this lifestyle, but we will definitely be able to track what harm it may cause,鈥� said Sen. , D-San Antonio, on Wednesday. 鈥淚t is my hope that every child affected by this bill can have a chance to grow up and see that things will get better.鈥�
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