Legislation introduced in the Kansas Senate this week would make it a crime for doctors to provide gender-affirming health care to transgender teens and adults under the age of 21. The bill, labeled the “Kansas Child Mutilation Prevention Act,” would also prohibit providing gender-reassignment surgery to those under 21. In practice, such procedures are rarely offered to anyone younger than 18.
KOFO spoke to one transgender teen in Ottawa about the legislation and their feeling about it. Holden Seymore says it borders on discrimination:
The bill drew almost immediate criticism from some health care providers and transgender rights advocates, arguing the state should leave difficult medical choices to families and their physicians. It’s part of a growing wave of legislation across the country that would restrict how transgender people can seek health care related to their gender identity. More than two dozen similar bills face state legislatures this year.
