by Jaryn Crouson
An Alabama state legislator has proposed a law that would allow adults who had gender reassignment surgery as minors to sue up to 15 years later.
The bill proposed by Republican state senator Arthur Orr would protect people who, as minors, may have made life-changing decisions According to to the Alabama Daily News. The law would also require warnings outlining the risks of using puberty blockers, sex hormones and gender reassignment surgery.
“The point of this bill is that it allows a child who has undergone some sort of gender reassignment or gender reassignment as a child to sue the doctors and counselors who advised them to do so,” Orr (pictured above) said, according to the Alabama Daily News . “This would hold adults accountable for pushing children down this path.”
Alabama prohibited gender reassignment treatment for minors in 2022, although the law has encountered legal obstacles. According to the Alabama Daily News, Orr’s proposed legislation would extend the statute of limitations for people already subject to the procedures and provide a safeguard in the event the ban is repealed.
“It would be very difficult to attack the mere extension of the statute of limitations to bring a lawsuit against a provider who facilitated and induced a child (toward a transition or guardianship procedure),” Orr said, according to the Alabama Daily News.
Arkansas had a similar experience legislation in 2023, which will allow citizens to file medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors who perform gender reassignment procedures on minors. If Alabama’s legislation passes, several more states could follow suit.
The Supreme Court is set to review the legality of bans on gender reassignment surgery for minors, and the ruling will impact laws in several states.
“It is disturbing that you would allow a child to make a life-changing decision that, in most cases, is irreversible,” Orr told the Alabama Daily News. “I hope that no child’s life will ever be seriously affected and that at the age of 27 they wake up and realize how bad it all was when they were making decisions 10 or 12 years earlier.”
The bill has been proposed for the 2025 legislative session, which begins on February 4.
Orr did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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Jaryn Crouson is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
