Bill filed in Texas House would ban gender-affirming care for all Texans

AUSTIN, Texas - A North Texas Republican's House bill would change the wording of the state's ban on gender-affirming care for youth and apply it to all Texans.

What we know:

Rep. Brent Money (R-Greenville)'s bill would prohibit gender transitioning or gender reassignment procedures and treatments for all residents of the state.

The bill would change the wording of the current law that bans those procedures on children by replacing "child" with "person."

It would prohibit medical procedures "for the purpose of transitioning a person's biological sex" or "affirming the person's perception of the person's sex" if the perception is not that person's biological sex.

The bans would apply to surgeries and puberty-blocking drugs.

Exceptions to the ban would allow a doctor to give puberty-blocking drugs to a minor with parental consent to normalize puberty.

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It would also allow surgery for a person born with "verifiable genetic disorder of sex development."

Texans who have already started medications would be required to wean off those medications in a "medically appropriate" manner.

By the numbers:

The Williams Institute at UCLA's School of Law estimates there are around 1.3 million transgender adults in the United States and around 300,000 transgender youths.

Texas has an estimated 93,000 transgender adults, making it the state with the third-largest population, behind California and Florida.

An estimated 30,000 transgender youths between the ages of 13-18 live in Texas, again making it the state with the third-largest population, behind California and New York.

Texas ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youths

In 2023, the Texas legislature passed a bill that banned gender-affirming care in transgender youth.

The law was challenged in the Texas Supreme Court, who upheld the ban in an 8-1 decision last summer.

The lawsuit that challenged the Texas law argued it has devastating consequences for transgender teens who are unable to obtain critical treatment recommended by their physicians and parents. The only justice dissenting with the ruling said the Texas Supreme Court was allowing the state to "legislate away fundamental parental rights."

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Many families are concerned about the status of a federal law that affords children with disabilities in public schools every opportunity to learn without discrimination.

A lower court ruled the law unconstitutional, but it had been allowed to take effect while the state Supreme Court considered the case.

Texas is one of at least 25 states that have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.

United States v. Skrmetti

In December, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors in Tennessee.

The justices seemed likely to uphold Tennessee's ban during arguments, but a decision in the case has not been made.

The decision is likely to affect the law in Texas and other states where bans and restrictions have been enacted, and a range of other efforts to regulate the lives of transgender people, including which sports competitions they can join and which bathrooms they can use.

What we don't know:

Just because a bill is filed does not mean it will be assigned a committee or considered.

Rep. Money has not yet returned a request for comment.