GA bill banning gender transition treatment for minors starts Saturday

ATLANTA, Ga. (WDEF) — Georgia Senate Bill 140, regarding gender transition treatments for minors, goes into effect this Saturday, July 1.

Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 140 into law on March 23.

The bill seeks to prohibit gender transitioning treatments for youth in Georgia. It does so, citing the principle of “do no harm.”

Bill 140 bans the following medical procedures in treating gender dysphoria in minors:

• Sex reassignment surgeries.
• Any surgical procedures performed for altering primary or secondary sexual characteristics.
• Hormone replacement therapies.

The legislation states that “there has been a massive unexplained rise in diagnoses of gender dysphoria among children over the past ten years.” It continues on to say that gender dysphoria is often found in people who also have other mental health and developmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder. It also argues many children with gender dysphoria do not continue with these conditions in adulthood. 

The bill also cites the irreversible effects caused by gender transition treatments.

Additionally, SB 140 mentions the lack of long-term research done on those who have received gender transition treatment.

“No large-scale studies have tracked people who received gender-related medical care as children to determine how many remained satisfied with their treatment as they aged and how many eventually regretted transitioning,” the bill adds. 

However, the bill does note exceptions. Those include:

• Treatments for medical conditions other than gender dysphoria.
• Treatments for sex reassignment when deemed medically necessary.
• Treating those born with medically verifiable disorder of sex development (ex: those born with ambiguous genitalia or chromosomal abnormalities).
• Treatments for those with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome.
• Continued treatment of minors who are, prior to July 1, 2023, being treated with irreversible hormone replacement therapies. 

SB 140 suggests taking a “wait-and-see approach” for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It says they should receive counseling and time to mature before making irreversible decisions.

It states, “The General Assembly has an obligation to protect children, whose brains and executive functioning are still developing, from undergoing unnecessary and irreversible medical treatment.”