Prohibiting gender transition procedures for minors is the goal of a bill recently introduced in the state legislature. 

Senate Bill 55 would ban healthcare providers from administering puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender transition surgeries to minors. The bill would also prohibit the use of public funds for such procedures and restrict insurance coverage for minors seeking gender transition treatments.

“Children deserve the opportunity to grow up without being subjected to life-altering medical interventions that they may later regret,” said State Sen. Bryant Richardson (R-Seaford), the measure's prime sponsor.

"The challenge in Delaware will be to introduce overwhelming evidence about the dangers to youth who are subjected to such treatments and to dispel biased and inaccurate information from those who profit from providing treatments,” Sen. Richardson added.

State Rep. Jeff Hilovsky (R-Long Neck, Oak Orchard), a retired doctor of optometry, is the prime House sponsor of the proposal. “In recent years, there has been a disturbing rush to perform transsexual transitions on minors. In my opinion, this irrational haste has been fueled by political ideology and directly contradicts good medical practices. The human brain does not fully develop until the mid-20s. Research shows that minors, especially those in their teenage years, often experience fluctuations in their sense of self, and many find that their gender identity evolves as they grow older. Yet, we’re facilitating highly invasive hormone interventions and surgeries that will have dire and permanent consequences on children and teenagers.”

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the brain does not finish developing until the mid-to-late 20s. The prefrontal cortex, one of the last parts to mature, is responsible for skills like planning, prioritizing, and decision-making.

Supporters of the bill—including State Reps. Rich Collins, Ron Gray, Shannon Morris, Bryan Shupe, and Lyndon Yearick—note the bill is entirely consistent with other Delaware laws that recognize the prudence of decision-making limitations on minors. Minors are barred from getting tattoos, and the purchase of alcoholic beverages, handguns, rifles, tobacco, and vaping products is illegal for anyone under the age of 21. 

At least 26 states have enacted similar bans on conducting transgender medical procedures on children and teenagers. Last March, the United Kingdom’s National Health Service suspended the use of puberty-blocking drugs for children who are gender nonconforming or experience difficulty identifying with their biological sex.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that medical professionals ‘first do no harm’ and that minors are not subjected to irreversible medical procedures without first reaching an age where they are physiologically and psychologically capable of making such decisions,” Rep. Hilovsky said. “This bill will protect our youngest citizens while empowering them to purposefully explore their identities so they are appropriately prepared to make the most profound decisions of their lives.”

SB 55 has been assigned to the Senate Health & Social Services Committee.