Several Democrats joined with more than a dozen of the Republican members of the Maryland House of Delegates in proposing a measure that would criminalize almost any trans-related medical treatment performed on a minor, without parental consent.
The Maryland House started debating HB 722, a bill that would ban medical professionals from “attempting” to alter a minor’s appearance or sex, or “affirming the minor’s perceived” gender without parental permission. The bill would ban the use of puberty blocks, cross-sex hormonal treatments, and surgical procedures which “sterilize”, artificially construct cross-sex organs, or remove healthy or non-diseased tissues or body parts.
There are a few exceptions to the bill, such as minors who suffer from a “medically verified disorder of sexual development,” or those who were mutilated in previous gender-related surgeries, or those who sustain a severe injury or illness requiring emergency surgery for life-saving or “major” bodily impairment. Maryland is among the few states that allow kids as young as 12 to make medical decisions without parental consent.
Republican Delegate Lauren Arikan, of Harford County proposed the bill. She claims that the bill will “protect minors from permanent, life-altering medical procedures which have not been proved to be necessary or helpful for the treatment of gender disorientation.”
At least 15 Republican colleagues, including Sheree sample-Hughes and Gary Simmons, have co-sponsored the measure, as well as three Democrats, Kym Taylor, Sheree sample-Hughes, and Kym. In a state like Maryland, where most lawmakers are Democrats, any support from them is vital. Maryland has a Democratic Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General. Democrats also hold a large majority in both chambers of the legislature. The Democrats outnumber Republicans in the House of Delegates (102 to 39) and the Senate (34 to 13).
The Daily Signal suggests that the increasing bipartisanship of measures to ban or limit trans-related interventions in medicine, particularly for minors, could be an indication that trans ideology has fallen out of favor. The outlet said that the overwhelming backlash from the public against the push to allow minors to access gender treatments could have contributed to the caution of Democrats in red and blue states.
The measure still has a way to go until it becomes law in Maryland. The Health and Government Operations Committee had been scheduled to examine the measure soon after it was presented in the House. It is not clear what happened at that meeting.
