A group of parents and lawmakers are hoping New Hampshire will become the next state to prohibit doctors from subjecting kids to sex change operations and related medical procedures with a bill that transgender advocates say if passed will impose the strictest ban on “gender-affirming care” for minors in the United States.
A hearing is slated for March 7 on Republican House Bill 619, entitled “Protection Against Child Medical and Psychological Experimentation Act,” which has been introduced in the New England State.
A large crowd is expected, with national LGBT groups having issued a national call to protest the bill. GLBTQ Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) set up a Facebook page called “603 Equality” to rally against HB619, which it called “dangerous and despicable.” Other national groups like Planned Parenthood have also denounced the New Hampshire bill.
HB619 is sponsored by eight Republicans. The Epoch Times reached out to each of them, but none responded, including primary sponsor Terry Roy.
Some of the staunchest supporters of bills banning gender transition treatment for minors come from those who underwent transgender procedures in their youth.
Detrans Awareness recently produced a series of videos warning against transgender procedures.
“See what’s coming: a day when therapists, doctors, parents & teachers who truly believed they were doing the right thing will have to reckon with the damage they unintentionally caused vulnerable young people,” the group wrote in promoting the videos.
The group has declared March 12 as National Detransition Awareness Day and has planned a number of protests in its observance.
Affirmation Generation also has launched an international campaign against transitioning minors.
“Children are being targeted in soft campaigns on the internet and by laws that undermine parental authority,” wrote the group in promoting a documentary it recently produced.
If passed, New Hampshire will join eight other states that have recently outlawed transgender treatment for minors. It will also make the Live Free or Die state the only state out of the six states that make up the otherwise liberal Northeast region to ban it.
The bill includes a ban on any discussion of gender transition treatment in public schools and the repeal of an existing ban on gay conversion therapy in the state.
A counter-bill has been introduced by Democrats seeking to designate New Hampshire as a sanctuary state for transgender procedures, similar to the one enacted in California. A similar bill has also been proposed in Vermont.
Under the New Hampshire proposal, any out-of-state court order for the return of a child undergoing a so-called transgender child would not be honored.
“A law of another state that authorizes a state agency to remove a child from their parent or guardian based on the parent or guardian allowing their child to receive gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care shall be against the public policy of this state and shall not be enforced or applied in a case pending in a court in this state,” the bill reads.
The bill, if passed, would also make it illegal to provide medical records of minors receiving gender transition treatment in a lawsuit, even if it is under a court order.
“Not protecting transkids is no different than not protecting abused children,” HB368’s main sponsor Rep. Gerri Cannon (D-Strafford) told The Epoch Times. Cannon was born as a biological male and now identifies as a transgender female.
The 60-year-old was recently elected for the first time, becoming the first transgender lawmaker in New Hampshire, along with another transgender person to the New Hampshire’s House of Representatives. Cannon told The Epoch Times that he knew as young as 12 that he was “really a girl” and struggled with “keeping that a secret.”
The two polarizing bills are slated to be heard consecutively on the same day by the New Hampshire Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee.
Hearings are also slated for March 7 on two newly proposed parental rights bills in New Hampshire. HB10 and SB272 are similar to a parental rights bill narrowly defeated last year when some House Republicans voted with Democrats against it. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, vowed to veto it if it passed the House, which put him in step with LGBTQ groups and other liberal organizations opposed to it.
In a press release, Sununu said he opposed the bill because “it creates numerous challenges for kids.” He said he agreed with New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, who deemed the bill a potential legal hazard when weighed against the state’s anti-discriminatory laws.
The bills are before the state’s Child and Family Law Committee.
Melissa Blasek, Executive Director of ReBuildNH, which advocated for the parental rights bills, told The Epoch Times that protecting the rights of parents to raise their children has nothing to do with discrimination or concealing child abuse.
“Child abuse is already a crime and it should be a crime and nothing about either one of these bills overrides any type of child abuse laws,” said Blasek. She added that parents have become the last entity who are guilty until proven innocent. The parental rights bill, said Blasek, is to stop the wedge being driven between parents and their children.
If the parental rights bill is successful this time around, New Hampshire will also be the only New England state to adopt such legislation. Similar parental rights legislation is pending in several other states including Alabama, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Texas.
States that have outlawed transgender treatment for minors within the last year include Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas.
Last week, Tennessee joined the ranks with a law that will go into effect on July 1. Under the law, minors already undergoing gender-transition treatment will be able to continue with it until March 31, 2024.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) vowed to fight the new law and criticized Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for signing it.
“We will not allow this dangerous law to stand,“ the ACLU wrote in a statement. ”We are dedicated to overturning this unconstitutional law and are confident the state will find itself completely incapable of defending it in court. We want transgender youth to know they are not alone and this fight is not over.”
There are currently pending legal challenges to the gender-transition treatment bans for minors in Alabama and Arkansas.
New Hampshire lawmakers are also contemplating two other polar opposite bills on the issue. Senate Bill 184 seeks to eliminate the need for parental consent to mental health counseling for minors over the age of 16 while House Bill 253 seeks to reinforce an existing, mandating parents have full access to their children’s medical records until they are 18.
Hearings on both bills are slated for Thursday, March. 9.
