§ 68-33-101 — Findings

(a) The legislature declares that it must take action to protect the health and welfare of minors. (b) The legislature determines that medical procedures that alter a minor's hormonal balance, remove a minor's sex organs, or otherwise change a minor's physical appearance are harmful to a minor when these medical procedures are performed for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity. These procedures can lead to the minor becoming irreversibly sterile, having increased risk of disease and illness, or suffering from adverse and sometimes fatal psychological consequences. Moreover, the legislature finds it likely that not all harmful effects associated with these types of medical procedures when performed on a minor are yet fully known, as many of these procedures, when performed on a minor for such purposes, are experimental in nature and not supported by high-quality, long-term medical studies. (c) The legislature determines that there is evidence that medical procedures that alter a minor's hormonal balance, remove a minor's sex organs, or otherwise change a minor's physical appearance are not consistent with professional medical standards when the medical procedures are performed for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity because a minor's discordance can be resolved by less invasive approaches that are likely to result in better outcomes for the minor. (d) The legislature finds that medical procedures are being performed on and administered to minors in this state for such purposes, notwithstanding the risks and harms to the minors. (e) The legislature finds that health authorities in Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom have recognized similar trends and, after conducting systematic reviews of the evidence, have found no evidence that the benefits of these procedures outweigh the risks and thus have placed severe restrictions on their use. (f) The legislature finds that Dr. John Money, one of the earliest advocates for performing or administering such medical procedures on minors and a founder of the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic, abused minors entrusted to his care, resulting in the suicides of David and Brian Reimer. (g) The legislature finds that such medical procedures are being performed on and administered to minors in this state with rapidly increasing frequency and that supposed guidelines advocating for such treatment have changed substantially in recent years. (h) The legislature finds that minors lack the maturity to fully understand and appreciate the life-altering consequences of such procedures and that many individuals have expressed regret for medical procedures that were performed on or administered to them for such purposes when they were minors. (i) The legislature finds that many of the same pharmaceutical companies that contributed to the opioid epidemic have sought to profit from the administration of drugs to or use of devices on minors for such purposes and have paid consulting fees to physicians who then advocate for administration of drugs or use of devices for such purposes. (j) The legislature finds that healthcare providers in this state have sought to perform such surgeries on minors because of the financial incentive associated with the surgeries, not necessarily because the surgeries are in a minor's best interest. (k) The legislature finds that healthcare providers in this state have threatened employees for conscientiously objecting, for religious, moral, or ethical reasons, to performing or administering such medical procedures. (l) The legislature finds that healthcare providers in this state have posted pictures of naked minors online to advertise such surgeries. (m) The legislature declares that the integrity and public respect of the medical profession are significantly harmed by healthcare providers performing or administering such medical procedures on minors. This state has a legitimate, substantial, and compelling interest in protecting minors from physical and emotional harm. This state has a legitimate, substantial, and compelling interest in protecting the ability of minors to develop into adults who can create children of their own. This state has a legitimate, substantial, and compelling interest in promoting the dignity of minors. This state has a legitimate, substantial, and compelling interest in encouraging minors to appreciate their sex, particularly as they undergo puberty. This state has a legitimate, substantial, and compelling interest in protecting the integrity of the medical profession, including by prohibiting medical procedures that are harmful, unethical, immoral, experimental, or unsupported by high-quality or long-term studies, or that might encourage minors to become disdainful of their sex. (n) Therefore, it is the purpose of this chapter to prohibit medical procedures from being administered to or performed on minors when the purpose of the medical procedure is to: (1) Enable a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex; or (2) Treat purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity.

Legislative History

Added by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1, s 1, eff. 7/1/2023.