On Thursday, Tennessee’s legislature passed a groundbreaking bill aimed at enforcing parental consent for minors seeking so-called “gender-affirming care.” Known as SB 2782, the measure received a decisive vote of 63-16 in the House and was spearheaded by state Sen. Janice Bowling (R). The bill mandates felony charges for adults who “recruit, harbor, or transport an unemancipated minor within the state of Tennessee for the purpose of receiving a prohibited medical procedure that would alter” biological gender assigned at birth. Parents and legal guardians are not covered, nor are adults who have received express permission from the child’s legal parents or guardian.
This legislation aligns closely with a broader conservative push to reinforce parental rights and responsibilities, as echoed by state Rep. Bryan Richey (R) during House debates: “This is a parent’s rights bill, nothing more, nothing less. At the end of the day, parents should have final say on what medical procedures their children are receiving, and nobody else.”
Tennessee bill passes saying parents must give consent before children can be taken out of state for sex changeshttps://t.co/3g4UbZDlHehttps://t.co/3g4UbZDlHe
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 26, 2024
The leftist LGBT and radical genderism lobby has predictably reacted to the Tennessee measure with outrage. They argue that the bill could broadly penalize anyone discussing such care options with minors. That overlooks the reality that is the exact purpose of the law — to protect kids from predators outside of their families. The “Human Rights Campaign” has pointed out that Tennessee has adopted more anti-LGBT laws than any other state since 2015. Despite the opposition from the radical left, the bill now heads to Gov. Bill Lee (R), who has consistently supported measures limiting gender-affirming care for minors and is expected to sign the bill into law.
Under the new law, violators could be imprisoned for 3 to 15 years and face fines of up to $10,000. Additionally, they could be held liable in civil lawsuits, with the affected parent or legal guardian able to claim compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees.
The legislative momentum in Tennessee reflects a broader national trend among GOP-led states to restrict gender-affirming care for minors, contrasting sharply with moves by Democrat-led states like Maine, which recently enacted protections for health care providers offering the life-altering procedures that have been banned elsewhere.
