Sharply divided along party lines, the Texas Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill that seeks to prohibit gender-affirming medical care for transgender Texans who are under age 18.
Senate Bill 1646 would broaden the legal definition of child abuse to include providing puberty-blocking medication, hormone therapy or surgery to a transgender Texan under age 18.
Parents who allow such treatments risk removal of their children by Child Protective Services, said the bill's author, Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock.
The goal is to delay treatment until at least age 18, when transgender Texans are in better position to make life-altering decisions, he said.
"Once puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are given to a child, they are almost guaranteed to fully transition," Perry told the Senate. "When adults give children these drugs, they are setting a path the children may not have chosen and a path that may never be able to be reversed."
A final Senate vote to approve SB 1646 is expected Wednesday.
Doctors who treat transgender patients have testified at Capitol hearings that puberty blockers are reversible, delaying the onset of physical changes to allow time for transgender Texans to consider more permanent options.
Hormone therapy involving testosterone and estrogen introduce body changes that are permanent and are generally recommended after age 16, the doctors testified, adding that castration, vasectomies or hysterectomies are not offered until age 18.
Several Democratic senators said Tuesday that they will wait until the final vote Wednesday to speak against the bill, although several made their strong opposition known.
Sen. Jose Menéndez, D-San Antonio, called SB 1646 an unnecessary state overreach that would intrude on parental rights and endanger the mental health and well-being of transgender youths.
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, bluntly challenged the expertise of Perry, an accountant, to limit options on decisions best made by families in consultation with medical and mental health professionals.
"I live and work with the transgender community and I'm still learning, and I'm not an expert, but you stand up here like you know what you're talking about," Whitmire told Perry. "What is your expertise to deal with the complex subject of intervening in transgender families that just want to be left alone?"
SB 1646 was given initial approval on an 18-13 vote, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. Final approval Wednesday would send the bill to the House, where a Republican bill proposes a different path to banning gender-affirming medical care.
House Bill 1399, approved by a committee and awaiting a vote by the full House, would ban doctors from offering puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgery to transgender Texans who are 17 or younger.
Other bills directed at transgender youths this session would prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls sports at public schools, including SB 29, which has been approved by the Senate — also on a party-line vote — and is awaiting action by a House committee.
