§ 44-42-320 — Health care professionals prohibited from providing gender transition procedures to persons under eighteen years of age.

(A) A physician, mental health provider, or other health care professional shall not knowingly provide gender transition procedures to a person under eighteen years of age. (B) A physician, mental health provider, or other health care professional shall not engage in the provision or performance of gender transition procedures to a person under eighteen years of age. This section may not be construed to impose liability on any speech protected by federal or state law. (C) If prior to August 1, 2024, a health care professional initiated a course of treatment that includes the prescription, delivery, or administration of a puberty-blocking drug or a cross-sex hormone to a person under the age of eighteen, and if the health care professional determines and documents in the person's medical record that immediately terminating the person's use of the drug or hormone would cause harm to the person, the health care professional may institute a period during which the person's use of the drug or hormone is systematically reduced. That period may not extend beyond January 31, 2025. (D) Subject to the provisions in subsections (A) and (B), nothing in this section prohibits a licensed health provider from offering mental health services within the scope of his practice. (E) A physician who knowingly performs genital gender reassignment surgery in violation of this chapter is guilty of inflicting great bodily injury upon a child as provided for in Section 16-3-95(A).

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2024 Act No. 203 (H.4624), SECTION 1, eff May 21, 2024.