Legislators in Texas are discussing the proposed Senate Bill 1646, a yet untitled bill that is "relating to the protection of children, including the definition of child abuse and the prosecution of the criminal offense of abandoning or endangering a child." The proposed bill aims to criminalize parents who consent to their children to undergo sex change.
According to Faithwire, Texas' new bill was introduced by Republican Senator Charles Perry of Lubbock. If passed into law, S.B. 1646 will prohibit parents from "administering or supplying, or consenting to or assisting in the administering or supplying of puberty suppression prescription drug or cross-sex hormone to a child, other than an intersex child, for the purpose of gender transitioning or gender reassignment."
The proposed S.B. 1646 also prohibits "performing or consenting to the performance of surgery or another medical procedure on a child, other than an intersex child, for the purpose of gender transitioning or gender reassignment."
Those who violate S.B. 1646 once it is passed into law will face charges in violation of Texas' Family Code and will be subjected to an investigation by child protective services, during which the child could be taken into their custody, away from his or her parents.
In addition, doctors and medical practitioners who perform gender-reassignment treatments to the child will also be charged with child abuse and will be subjected to an investigation by the Texas Medical Board.
According to WLTX News 19, Texas' new bill that will criminally charge parents who allow kids to undergo sex change will have an exception for children who are born intersex to be given medical treatment.
At Monday's Senate Committee on State Affairs hearing, several testified for the proposed S.B. 1646, including Texas GOP Republican Executive Committee Member Jill Glover, who believes that sex change is merely a "fad that is amplified by social media."
"Children are unable to give informed consent," Glover argued. "This bill gives children a chance to get to adulthood with intact bodies."
Jeff Younger, a distraught father whose young son named James was in the midst of a custody battle after his mother claimed that he identified as a girl, also testified. Younger accused the current Texas legal system of "facilitating" gender transitions for minors.
"Without my consent, my ex-wife just transitioned my son to a girl," Younger said during the recent hearing. "It's very easy under these current protocols for children to fall into this."
Texas' new bill will hopefully erase the possibilities of this happening again to another family. If passed, the bill will take effect on September 1 this year. S.B. 1646 is just one of four LGBT-related bills that are being considered at Texas State Capitol this week.
Also discussed were Senate Bill 1311, which targets professional liability insurance coverage for doctors who provide gender transitioning or gender reassignment medical procedures and treatments to children.
Meanwhile, the House Public Health Committee discussed on Wednesday the House Bill 1399 that aims to change the liability insurance of medical professionals who provide transition-related care and House Bill 1424 that gives medical professionals the right to refrain from providing medical procedures that do not align with their "ethical, oral, or religious beliefs."
