Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Rep. Mike Kennedy sponsors a bill allowing minors to sue providers for gender-related hormonal treatments and surgeries.
- The bill extends the statute of limitations for lawsuits to 25 years.
- Experts argue the bill restricts essential gender-related care for minors.
PROVO — The author of Utah's law restricting gender-related surgeries and hormone treatments for minors now wants to make it easier for patients who go on to regret such treatments to sue their doctor.
Rep. Mike Kennedy, a former state senator who was elected to Congress in 2024, is helping sponsor a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would let patients who received treatment to help them transition their gender as minors sue their health care provider, hospital or clinic for damages if they come to regret their decision and to cover any costs of later detransitioning.
The bill would extend the statute of limitations for such lawsuits to 25 years from the child's 18th birthday or four years after the cost of detransition is incurred, whichever is later. It would also prevent doctors from waiving liability for any complications that arise as a result of such treatments.
"It gives doctors, hospitals and anybody in the nation that steps into this area a due notice that they need to be very careful about what they're doing," Kennedy told KSL. "Frankly, I think it's going to have a chilling effect upon those that are in a fairly cavalier fashion doing these dangerous procedures on our children throughout the country."
"This is to help ensure that children are safe," he added.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Kennedy served in the Utah Senate, where he sponsored a 2023 law that banned gender-related surgeries for minors and placed a moratorium on using hormones or puberty blockers for gender transition.
Hormone treatments and surgeries can be used to help transgender individuals bring their gender expression in line with their gender identity, though they are not necessary for transition. Surgeries to help minors transition are rare.
Equality Utah, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, was opposed to the initial ban in Utah. The organization has not reviewed Kennedy's latest effort on the national level and did not have a comment on it, a spokesperson said.
At the same time that Utah's ban went into effect, the state also conducted a study on the impact of hormonal treatments on minors. The report, which was published last year, found "positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes" associated with those treatments. Still, the Utah Legislature last week gave final approval to a bill that would extend the hormonal treatment moratorium permanently. It now goes to Gov. Spencer Cox's desk.
The congressman, who practiced family medicine before joining Congress, said he wants to see further research on the benefits and drawbacks of gender-related care, but he wants to protect children and teenagers from procedures with potentially lifelong impacts.
"When it comes to children, when we're not sure based on science and evidence, we ought to do everything we can to protect the children," Kennedy said.
'It's lifesaving care'
Kennedy's bill and similar efforts at the state level have received pushback from doctors who specialize in gender-related care, who say it can help teens transition and that health care providers are already cautious about making sure treatments are actually best for their patients.
The bill is nicknamed the Chloe Cole Act, named for a prominent activist against gender-related care who underwent a double mastectomy as a 16-year-old and went on to regret that decision. While Cole's story is tragic, medical professionals no longer perform what is known as top surgery on minors, according to Dr. Collin Kuhn, a Salt Lake City-based clinical child and adolescent psychologist who specializes in gender-related care.
Kuhn, who identifies as nonbinary, transmasculine, typically meets with patients for about a year before discussing hormonal treatments, and said surgical interventions for minors is "just not happening."
"Providers just aren't doing surgery for people under 18," Kuhn added.
Kuhn felt "very sorry" for what Cole experienced, but said the story shouldn't be weaponized to restrict treatments for others. A 2024 study published in the American Journal of Surgery found that about 1% of those who received gender-related surgeries went on to regret their decision, which is lower than the rate of regret for other elective procedures such as breast augmentation or getting a tattoo.
Joselyn Romero, a licensed clinical social worker who runs a Millcreek clinic that specializes in gender-related care, said teens who experience gender dysphoria typically feel isolated and ashamed. Romero said patients often feel "like coming home to themselves" when they transition, whether that is just socially or using hormonal treatments.
Romero said many patients have expressed frustration since Utah's ban took effect, and said a better policy would strengthen existing guardrails and provide support for those who transition.
"We really have clear discussions of what are the risks," Romero said of working with patients. "They also have a significant mental health risk if it goes untreated as well."
Kennedy said he has spoken with many people who have transitioned.
"I count them as my friends," he said, but added that it's up to lawmakers and society to determine when certain decisions are appropriate. "If somebody feels like they need some permanent change, they can do it after age 18."
Kuhn agreed about keeping children and teens safe but said restricting the procedures isn't the best way to accomplish that.
"At the end of the day, I have the exact same goals as Mike Kennedy: I don't want harm to happen to kids," Kuhn said. "I'm the one that has to sleep at night, not him. They're in front of me, not him."
"It's lifesaving care," Kuhn added.
Contributing: Daniel Woodruff
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly stated that Utah's bill extending the moratorium on hormone treatments for minors passed Monday. It passed last week.
