Tennessee state senators on Thursday voted 25-4 to pass a bill that would make it a felony for an adult to assist a minor seeking gender reassignment. The bill will now be submitted to the Republican-led House of Representatives, where it is expected to receive additional Republican support.
Republican state Sen. Janice Bowling sponsored SB 2782 in Tennessee, which would penalize “adults who recruit, harbor, or transport unsecured minors for the purpose of receiving prohibited medical procedures.” . Regardless of where the medical procedure is performed, identifying or living in an identity that does not correspond to the minor’s gender or any misconceptions arising from the mismatch between the minor’s gender and the claimed identity is prohibited. Treating minors for pleasure or pain as confidential. as a serious crime.
Adults who violate the law could be sentenced to three to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 under the bill’s Class C felonies. The bill also “authorizes any person who violates this amendment to be liable for a civil action for that violation.”
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Demonstrators supporting the rights of transgender youth. (Fox News)
The bill is similar to another bill passed by the Senate on Thursday that would create penalties for adults who help minors obtain abortions without parental consent.
Tennessee Democrats opposed both bills.
“Two bills have been introduced in two days that regulate the types of conversations people can have with each other,” Democratic state Sen. Jeff Yarbro said before Thursday’s vote. “We must not seek to violate constitutional rights, and that is the purpose of this action.”
Bowling refrained from discussing the bill on the floor, instead reading part of the bill’s text when asked for clarification by his Democratic colleague, Sen. Heidi Campbell.
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Transgender pride flag. (Alison Diener/AFP via Getty Images)
Mr Campbell argued that children experiencing gender dysphoria “feel like their parents are someone they can talk to”.
“I really applaud efforts to support parental rights, but I think we also need to think about the different scenarios where relationships with parents are not necessarily healthy,” she said.
Currently, Idaho is the only other U.S. state with a law cracking down on adults facilitating abortions for minors. But Tennessee could become the first state to impose penalties on adults, specifically regarding gender reassignment procedures and treatment.
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Recently, Maine attracted the attention of more than a dozen Republican attorneys general over a bill under consideration that would effectively establish Maine as a sanctuary state for both abortions and procedures such as gender reassignment surgery for minors. The AGs say it’s “totalitarian.” If passed, the bill would protect providers from so-called “adversarial” lawsuits.
Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.
