Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law on Monday banning health care workers from performing gender-altering procedures and providing hormone therapies to minors.
Under Senate Bill 613 (pdf), which passed by a 38–8 vote on April 27, doctors are barred from performing transgender surgeries on anyone under the age of 18. The new law also makes it illegal to prescribe gender-altering medication to minors, such as puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.
Anyone in violation of the act faces hefty penalties, including potential felony charges carrying up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, license revocation, as well as civil actions that can be filed by a parent or guardian.
However, the law does not prohibit health care services or mental health counseling for gender dysphoria. It also would not ban medications for depression and anxiety or stop providing assistance if an individual is born with ambiguous genitalia, incomplete genitalia, or both male and female anatomy.
Stitt, a Republican, made the ban a priority of this year’s legislative session, calling on lawmakers during his State of the State address in February to deliver a bill to his desk that bans all gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies for minors.
In a statement on Monday, Stitt said that he is “thrilled” to sign the bill into law and protect the state’s most vulnerable—”our kids.”
“Last year, I called for a statewide ban on all irreversible gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies on minors so I am thrilled to sign this into law today and protect our kids,” Stitt said. “We cannot turn a blind eye to what’s happening across our nation, and as governor I am proud to stand up for what’s right and ban life-altering transition surgeries on children in the state of Oklahoma.”
The law goes into effect immediately under an emergency clause, but there is a six-month exception period for those who are currently in the process of receiving hormone therapy, local station KOSU reported.
The development comes after Stitt signed bills last year prohibiting biological males from competing on female sports teams and restricting children who identify as transgender to using only school bathrooms that correspond to their sex.
A number of states recently restricted transgender procedures for minors, amid a national and international debate over the safety, effectiveness, and ethics of transgender medical procedures in general.
Oklahoma joins at least 15 other states with laws banning doctors from performing life-altering procedures on children, which are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota, and West Virginia.
In Tennessee, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in April challenging the newly enacted law, arguing that the legislation violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Additionally, Florida, Missouri, and Texas have banned or restricted gender-altering procedures via regulations or administrative orders. In Missouri, a judge ordered a two-week hold on the nation’s first attempt to regulate medical gender-transitioning of adults and minors via a consumer protection rule.
Opponents Respond
Republican state Sen. Julie Daniels, who introduced Senate Bill 613, said in a statement that the measure is about delaying minors from making permanent and irreversible decisions that “can lead to a host of medical problems later in life.”
“Being transgender, gender non-conforming, or experiencing gender dysphoria is very real, but these are mental, not physical conditions. Children need behavioral and mental health treatment to give them the opportunity to resolve these issues,” Daniels said. “Once they reach 18, they may not wish to seek more drastic treatment, but at least they will have reached some level of maturity to make a more informed decision.”
Transgender advocates, meanwhile, say such treatment is essential and have promised to “take any necessary legal action” to prevent the law from taking effect.
“Gender-affirming care is a critical part of helping transgender adolescents succeed, establish healthy relationships with their friends and family, live authentically as themselves, and dream about their futures,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma said in a statement.
“If this bill is signed into law, we will defend the rights of transgender youth in court, just as we have done in other states engaging in this anti-science and discriminatory fearmongering,” it added.
The Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBT advocacy group, also denounced state lawmakers for passing the bill, calling it “discriminatory” and “unnecessary” to prohibit irreversible gender treatments for children.
