Tennessee nears law banning adults from helping minors find, receive sex reassignment care

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Tennessee lawmakers in the GOP-dominated Statehouse on Thursday passed legislation making it illegal for adults to help minors find and receive sex reassignment care without permission from the child’s parents. The bill is now heading to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk, where it could be signed into law.

Last week, the state’s senate passed its version of the bill before sending it to the House for approval.

The law would penalize any “adult who recruits, harbors, or transports an unemancipated minor” in Tennessee “for the purpose of receiving a prohibited medical procedure for the purpose of enabling the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity, regardless of where the medical procedure is to be procured,” and classify the crime as a felony.

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On Wednesday, Tennessee Republican lawmakers passed the so-called “anti-abortion trafficking” proposal, which has almost identical language but geared toward stopping adults from helping young people obtain abortions without parental consent.

Lee, also a Republican, has not commented on either bill. He also did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital on the matter.

Still, supporters of the bill are confident the governor will sign both bills into law.

The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Republicans in the Tennessee House and Senate both passed legislation making it illegal for adults to assist minors with obtaining sex reassignment care.  (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Lee has yet to issue a veto as governor, and he approved the state’s ban on abortion and sex reassignment care for minors.

Tennessee Democrats opposed both bills and critics worried about the bills’ possible broad application.

EDMONTON, CANADA – FEBRUARY 11: Protestors during a rally at Churchill Square in support of trans youth in Alberta following the ‘Sing With Love’ concert at McDougall United Church, on February 11, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The concert and rally, held in downtown Edmonton on Sunday afternoon, aimed to demonstrate solidarity with the trans community in response to recent government policies impacting trans children. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Charges could stem from talking to a minor about a website on where to find care, to helping a minor travel to another state with looser restrictions on sex reassignment services.

Currently, Idaho is the only other state in the U.S. that has a law to crack down on adults who help facilitate abortions for minors. But Tennessee could become the first that applies penalties to adults relating specifically to gender-transition procedures and treatments.

Recently, Maine drew the attention of more than a dozen Republican attorneys general for a bill under consideration that would effectively establish Maine as a sanctuary state for both abortions and procedures like sex-change surgeries for minors — a move the AGs say is “totalitarian.” Providers would be shielded from so-called “hostile” lawsuits if the bill passes. 

Fox News Digital’s Brianna Herlihy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.