As a bill banning girls from female sports in K-12 schools snaked its way through legislation at this session, a Utah House committee considered a second bill on Friday that would affect transgender youth.
The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Rex Shipp, R-Cedar City, would make it “unprofessional conduct to undergo a medically unnecessary puberty inhibition or sex characteristic procedure in a person aged 16 and under in Utah to be carried out “.
After hearing the debate on the bill, the House Health and Human Services Committee voted 10: 3 to send HB92 back to the House Rules Committee, a place that is sometimes viewed as a cell for laws not ready for prime time .
Shipp refused the move, arguing that his bill was “about protecting children”. He and Bill supporters pointed out people who later regretted taking puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, some of which spoke on Friday. Shipp and others also argued that children are too young to make these life-changing decisions.
Opponents of the legislation called it “cruel” and “dangerous”. Candice Metzler, executive director of Utah’s Transgender Education Advocates, said it was “degrading and dehumanizing”.
“I have worked with gender specific young people and their families for many years. It is a complicated situation that there is no one size fits all, ”said Metzler with this calculation. “Every situation is different and should be treated that way,” said Metzler.
During his monthly news conference on Thursday, Governor Spencer Cox said the original version of Shipp’s bill had “many flaws”, but the latest iteration is “closer to medical standards, and I think that’s really important” and possibly for members more acceptable to the LGBTQ community.
Cox said he spoke to Equality Utah and others about this legislation. On Friday, Troy Williams, Executive Director of Equality Utah, emphasized the importance of involving the transgender community in drafting legislation. Williams pointed to the 2015 anti-discrimination protection for the gay and transgender community that was achieved by Utahn’s “collaboration”.
The governor also said he believed the government should not get caught between doctors and patients; For example, he doesn’t want to prescribe COVID-19 vaccinations and sees this problem through a similar lens. Opponents of the HB92 bill made similar arguments on Friday.
“Do you know what I’ve never done in 20 years? Never have I ever stepped out of a room thinking of calling a lawmaker and saying, “Tell me the best way to look after this child.” Because I trust … national organizations and agencies. Because I trust my colleagues, ”said Dr. Jennifer Plumb, a pediatrician and emergency pediatrician at the University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital.
Shipp supports “parental rights,” he said, but his concern is whether children at a young age are able to make such a big decision.
“When I was raising my children, sometimes they couldn’t even decide what to wear to school the next day,” he said.
The discussion of the bill ranged from the reversibility of the treatments described in the bill to current science and child suicide risk.
Dr. Nicole Mihalopoulos, medical director of the clinic for gender management and support at Primary Children’s Hospital, said the clinic follows guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Endocrine Society, which recommend that “transgender adolescents live in their confirmed sex and have for at least a year seen a mental health provider who can provide information about mental health stability and the persistent, persistent and consistent identity of the confirmed gender before starting any drugs that feminize or masculinize. “
“Parents don’t make these decisions lightly. Doctors don’t make these decisions lightly, ”said Maryann Martindale of the Utah Academy of Family Physicians.
When the hearing closed on Friday morning, Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, moved the bill back to the House Rules Committee because “I am concerned about the process that got us here,” he said.
“I think the rules committee needs to substantiate the process issues we had with this bill, and the best way to do that is to send it back to the rules committee,” Spendlove said.
When Rep. Merrill Nelson, the chairman of the committee, asked Spendlove to clarify what he meant, Spendlove replied, “Well, I don’t think I have to answer your questions, do I?” After a pause, Nelson, R-Grantsville replied, “Not if you don’t want to, I guess.”
Spendlove did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Friday.
Rep. Kelly Miles, R-Ogden said he didn’t think the bill should go backwards, adding, “There was a lot of emotion. Much good testimony. We all had an opportunity to study this. … I think we have to put it to the vote and either pass it on or kill the bill, whichever this body decides. “
The committee voted 10-3 to return the bill to the rules. Nelson, Miles and Rep. Cheryl Acton, R-West Jordan, voted no.
Taylor Stevens’ report contributed to this story.
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