LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Lawmakers in Michigan’s Republican-led House passed bills supporters say would protect children from medical mutilation.
House Bills 4466-4468 are sponsored by State Representatives Jaime Greene (R-Richmond), Brad Paquette (R-Niles), and Tom Kunse (R-Clare). Rep. Greene said the issue should not be controversial.
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“Minors are incredibly vulnerable, and they cannot reasonably consent to operations that will have profoundly challenging medical consequences,” Greene said. “The damage from these procedures will leave a permanent impact, and it will prevent them from achieving normal sexual development as adults. If a child is demonstrating symptoms of gender dysphoria, they need to be met with compassion, not scalpels,” she said.
The bills would impose licensing consequences on health care professionals found in violation. In addition, the legislation requires insurance providers to cover medical consequences resulting from gender transitions along with efforts to reverse the procedures.
Rep. Paquette cited the lack of medical studies that examine the long-term effects of these treatments.
“There are pharmaceuticals prescribed to and procedures performed on children in the state of Michigan that have been deliberately stunting or cutting off a child’s growth,” Paquette said. “Puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries have been maiming the most vulnerable young people among us for years in this state.”
However, Rep. Matt Longjohn (D-Portage), a physician, spoke against the bills on the House floor.
“This legislation inserts the state between patients, their families, and their physicians,” Longjohn said. “These bills replace evidence-based medical practice with political judgment, and that is a line we should never cross.”
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The bills now head to the Democratic-led Senate for further consideration.
