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SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly a year after the Utah Legislature enacted a ban on transgender girls competing in high school sports, a new bill would prohibit gender-confirmation surgeries on anyone under the age of 18.
And a second proposed bill would punish doctors who provide such surgeries.
Proposed for the 2023 general session, SB16 would ban primary and secondary sex characteristic surgeries for the purpose of gender confirmation on minor patients. Gender-confirmation surgeries are medical treatments that transgender and nonbinary people sometimes use to transition or alter their sexual characteristics.
The bill — sponsored by Sen. Michael Kennedy, R-Alpine, who is a doctor — defines an "attempted sex change" as "an attempt or effort to change an individual's body to present that individual as being of a sex or gender that is different from the individual's biological sex at birth."
SB16 would ban a variety of medical procedures when done for the purpose of gender-confirmation surgery, including castration, hysterectomy, mastectomy, breast augmentation, penectomy, vaginoplasty and vulvoplasty, along with "any surgical procedure ... that would result in the sterilization of an individual" that is related or necessary to gender confirmation.
The bill would not ban those procedures on minors if they are done to remove cancerous cells or it is deemed "medically necessary."
Kennedy declined to comment on the bill, saying it is still a work in progress but did not provide further information.
A separate bill, sponsored by Rep. Rex Shipp, R-Cedar City, would punish doctors who provide such surgeries, and also prohibits "cross-sex hormones" and puberty blockers. Shipp has unsuccessfully run a version of HB132 each of the last three years.
"The thing that these kids do need that I think they feel very strongly about is they need mental health therapy to help them in the process of waiting," Shipp told KSL NewsRadio. "There's information out there that shows that if we just allow the time to work with these kids, they're fine with their biological sex."
Equality Utah's transgender advocate Sue Robbins said banning the procedures can lead to depression and suicide, and said the procedures are "proven" and "scientifically backed."
"In the Utah way, we typically would leave health care between parent and the doctor for that parent's children," Robbins said.
In a Facebook post, Robbins said, "As normal, the bills are intended to target the transgender community while specifically stating it will leave harmful surgeries in place that are performed on intersex babies and infants."
A spokesperson for the Utah Pride Center said the nonprofit can't directly advocate for or against policy proposals, but said the organization hopes legislators enact laws out of a place of understanding and respect. Communications director Rose Bandeirinha said it's important to legislate for transgender rights, and believes "all of that has to be done from a place of information and open-mindedness."
While not speaking for transgender individuals, Bandeirinha knows many who feel forced to keep their identity a secret some of the time or around certain people. While not everyone who transitions undergoes surgery, it can be an important step for many individuals, Bandeirinha said.
"We just wish that all of the individuals that are trans wouldn't have to struggle with constantly assessing the viability of their identity in different spaces and environments and according to the people who surround them," Bandeirinha said. "That's exhausting, and it's not fair to anyone in this world."
"I think that it's great that we're talking about trans people, that we're creating visibility, we're creating awareness," Bandeirinha continued. "It can be very detrimental for people who are trans to see their identity be questioned and be disrespected. So, I think that when we talk about any identity in the political sphere ... the most important thing is to come from a place of respect. We're talking about people's identities, we're talking about members of our community, we're talking about entire families and entire social structures that deserve respect."
A recent report by Reuters and Komodo Health found a large increase in the number of minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2021, although the vast majority didn't undergo surgical procedures. Of the more than 42,000 patients diagnosed, only 4,231 received hormone treatments and only 282 received mastectomies — which is one of the more common types of gender-confirmation surgery performed on minors.
The Komodo analysis of insurance claims found 56 genital surgeries from 2019 to 2021 among patients between the ages of 13 and 17 who were previously diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
SB16 does not yet have a sponsor in the House of Representatives and has not been assigned to a committee. The 2023 general session of the Utah Legislature begins Jan. 17, 2023.
Contributing: Lindsay Aerts
