Tennessee HB1378

It is unlawful for an individual to engage in the following practices upon a minor, or cause the practices to be performed, to facilitate the minor's desire to present or appear in a manner that is inconsistent with the minor's sex: (1) Surgery that sterilizes the minor, including castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, metoidioplasty, orchiectomy, penectomy, phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty; (2) A mastectomy; (3) Administering or supplying the following medications that induce transient or permanent infertility: (A) Puberty-blocking medication to stop or delay normal puberty; (B) Supraphysiologic doses of testosterone or other androgens to members of the female sex; or (C) Supraphysiologic doses of estrogen or synthetic compounds with estrogenic activity to members of the male sex; or (4) Removing an otherwise healthy or non-diseased body part or tissue.

A medical professional who engages in a practice identified in subsection (a), or causes the practice to be performed, commits unprofessional conduct and is subject to revocation of licensure and other appropriate discipline by the medical professional's licensing authority. The medical professional is subject to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) per occurrence.

A parent, guardian, or custodian, in exercising the fundamental right to care for a child, may withhold consent for a treatment, activity, or mental healthcare service that is designed and intended to form the child's conceptions of sex and gender or to treat gender dysphoria or gender nonconformity. An employee or agent of this state or a political subdivision shall not infringe upon or impede the exercise of the right described in this section.

Except for a law enforcement officer acting pursuant to a law enforcement investigation, an employee or agent of this state or a political subdivision shall not: (A) Encourage or coerce a minor to withhold information from the minor's parent; or (B) Withhold from a minor's parents information that is relevant to the physical or mental health of their child and of a sort that parents interested in and responsible for the well-being of a minor reasonably would demand and should be apprised of.

Preemption. (a) A political subdivision shall not enact, adopt, maintain, or enforce a law, ordinance, rule, order, policy, or other measure that prohibits, restricts, limits, controls directs, or otherwise interferes with the professional conduct and judgment of a mental healthcare professional or counselor, including speech, undertaken within the course of treatment and communication with a client, patient, other person, or the public, including therapy, counseling, referral, and education.

Limitation on use of state funds. Funds of this state or a political subdivision of this state must not be used, directly or indirectly, for the performance of or in furtherance of gender transition procedures or to support the administration of a governmental health plan or government-offered insurance policy offering gender transition procedures.