New Hampshire Takes Crucial First Step to Protect Children from Radical Gender Treatments

Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) on Friday signed into law a bill that prohibits physicians from performing “genital gender reassignment” surgeries on minors in New Hampshire. The law is an important first step toward protecting children from unproven and dangerous medical interventions.

The legislation, HB 619, prohibits surgical procedures which seek to change a patient’s genitalia such as metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, or vaginoplasty for children under the age of 18. The law takes care not to prohibit genital surgeries that correct injuries or malformations, and does not mention chest surgeries such as mastectomies.

As the law notes, there is a lack of evidence demonstrating that genital gender reassignment surgery procedures are safe or effective in treating gender dysphoria, and there is very little research on the procedures’ long-term risks and concerns. These complications can include fistulas and chronic infection. Additionally, several European countries currently prohibit these procedures for minors.

Moreover, the law acknowledges that “adolescent genital gender reassignment surgery generally lacks both adequate information for informed consent and involves a high risk of coercion for parental consent.”

The legislation first passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives in January and the Senate in May. It was sponsored by several lawmakers including Reps. Terry Roy, Nikki McCarter, James Spillane, Kevin Verville, Jeanine Notter, Sheila Seidel, Alicia Nekas, and David Love.

In 2023, Do No Harm proposed the JUST FACTs Act as model legislation for state lawmakers to help them craft responses prohibiting children’s access to dangerous and unproven medical interventions.