Committee Passes Bill Protecting Children From Medical Malpractice in Sex-Change Surgeries

On Monday the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a measure to protect children from medical malpractice in sex-change procedures.

S.B. 199 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Branch) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Perryville) lets a child who undergoes a sex-change procedure sue the healthcare provider who performed procedure if the child suffers any injury as a result.

The bill would let a child file a lawsuit if he or she experiences:

A physical or physiological injury from the sex-change procedure
A psychological or emotional injury from the sex-change procedure
An injury from treatments related to the sex-change procedure
An injury from the after-effects of the sex-change procedure

Some injuries from sex-change procedures may not become evident until well into adulthood. That is why S.B. 199 effectively gives a child who suffers one of these injuries until the age of 48 to file a lawsuit against the healthcare provider.

S.B. 199 also outlines informed-consent processes for sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones, and it contains protections for healthcare providers who decline to perform sex-reassignment procedures.

The bill now goes to the Arkansas Senate for a vote.

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