CEC Chair Rips Advancement of GOP Bill Limiting Parents’ Rights, Bankrupting Doctors for Providing Trans-Related Care

CEC Chair Rep. Mark Takano: “Decisions about young peoples’ healthcare belong with patients, their parents, and providers—not Republican politicians.”

Washington, DC — After the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee advanced H.R. 7651, a bill that would restrict parents’ rights to make the best medical decisions for their children by banning transgender-related healthcare for young people—while also bankrupting countless healthcare providers, Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Takano released the following statement:

“Decisions about young peoples’ healthcare belong with patients, their parents, and providers—not Republican politicians,” said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “This bill is an extreme attempt to ban healthcare for transgender people by bankrupting the doctors, clinics, and hospitals that provide it—even if the established standards of care are followed. Republicans want to make the healthcare crisis they created even worse by forcing countless healthcare providers to close their doors for simply providing healthcare that is supported by ever major U.S. medical association—impacting EVERY American’s access to healthcare. My colleagues in the Equality Caucus and I will continue to fight against this bill and prevent it from becoming law.”


BACKGROUND
H.R. 7651 would effectively prohibit medically necessary care for transgender young people under the age of 18. It does so by creating a private right of action for any individual who received a covered intervention under the age of 18. Covered interventions include puberty-delaying medications, gender-affirming hormone therapy, or gender-affirming surgeries. Under this bill, such individual—or their parents or legal guardian—can sue any healthcare professional, hospital, or clinic who participated in the covered interventions in circumstances impacting interstate commerce (which are defined broadly). The individual can sue for compensatory damages, non-economic damages, and in some cases, punitive damages. A lawsuit can be brought against healthcare professionals, hospitals, and clinics who participated in any of the covered interventions at any point in time—including before passage of the bill.

Under the bill, healthcare professionals, hospitals, and clinics are strictly liable if they participated in the covered interventions on someone under the age of 18 after the date of enactment. This means as long as the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant participated in such conduct, the defendant is liable—even if the defendant’s actions were in accordance with the standard of care. If the defendant participated in the covered intervention on someone under the age of 18 before the date of enactment of the Act, there is limited deference to the prevailing standards of care to the extent those standards contradict the intention of the bill and it is shown that “the health care professional knew or should have known that such standards of care were in serious, scientific, and medical dispute at the time of the covered intervention.” The statute of limitations on bringing suit under the bill is 25 years after the individual’s 18th birthday or 4 years from the cost of a detransition treatment—whichever is later.

The bill’s sponsor has made clear that the goal of the bill is to “permanently end” this care for transgender people under 18.