New Hampshire Moves to Ban Gender-Affirming Surgery for Minors

The state House of New Hampshire voted last week to ban physicians from performing gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The motion is expected to pass in the Senate as well.

House Bill 619, which passed in a 199-175 vote, was initially intended to block all forms of gender-affirming care for minors, including hormone replacement therapy. However, it was amended to only cover genital surgeries, as well as preventing health care workers from referring minors out of state for these procedures. The same day, the House also voted to send House Bill 396 to the Senate—This would classify individuals on the basis of biological sex rather than gender for a variety of situations including incarceration, athletic competitions, and bathroom usage.

Interestingly, genital surgeries are already exceedingly rare for minors to undergo, and are not generally recommended for anyone under 18. However, opponents of the bill argue that such a ban would set a dangerous precedent for the authority of state governments such matters. What’s more, it could be said that this law infringes upon the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children.

New Hampshire is only one of many states attempting to tighten their grip on transgender people, and especially trans youth. At the state level, there are over 250 anti-trans bills in play across the U.S. Places, according to translegislation.com, such as Michigan, Ohio, Louisiana, and more have all passed or attempted to pass laws that would ban gender-affirming care for minors in some form. Meanwhile, other state governments such as Florida and Tennessee have looked into either banning or reducing access to any form of gender-affirming care for both minors and adults.

The passage of House Bill 619, and its likely affirmation in the Senate, seems to send a dangerous message in New Hampshire. Christ Erchull, an attorney with GLAD, says, “I see this as fear-mongering and opportunism that is just meant to target and play political volleyball with an extremely vulnerable group of people.”