HENDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. Wednesday, as a measure that would prohibit sex-change procedures on children, made its way through the Tennessee House, Daily Wire presenter Matt Walsh spoke before a committee and sparred with Democrat lawmakers.
House Bill 1, presented by Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth, would ban so-called gender transition drugs and operations on juveniles. Walsh spoke before the House Health Committee in the Cordell Hull Building on this issue.
No one should have to convince you that it’s wrong to mutilate, castrate, or sterilize a kid by chemical means. Walsh testified that “all moral people do concur on this topic.” However, “many of the individuals holding power in our nation and running our institutions, including our medical institutions, do not satisfy this fundamental criterion of decency.”
Walsh continued by arguing that it was illogical to enable minors to make such life-altering choices when they are not legally authorized to do things like buy weapons or get tattoos. Moreover, “children were being forced into making judgments” for which they lacked the maturity to account, he said.
Since Walsh’s research uncovered VUMC doing double mastectomies on children, she submitted the bill to prohibit such procedures. After questions from Republican legislators, VUMC stopped performing the procedures in October 2022.
Caleb Hemmer, a Democrat, pressed Walsh on a statement he made that might be seen as indicating 16-year-olds are legally considered adults. Walsh shot back by claiming that misrepresented his words.
Hemmer said, “I simply want to know how you define ‘adult,’ if individuals are adults at the age of 16.
Although Walsh acknowledged that most people’s brains are not completely matured until the age of 25, he claimed that 18 is the legal age of adulthood.
Walsh answered, “So we should have a discourse about whether we should be conducting these procedures on individuals at 18, but clearly before 18 it’s crazy.” He then sent the topic back to Hemmer.
Can you provide informed permission that a 16-year-physical old’s parts can be removed? A request for privacy was made by Walsh. “Do you? No?”
Members of the Tennessee legislature heard from additional witnesses, including several who spoke against the legislation. After much back-and-forth, the measure has made it to the point where it might soon be voted on by the whole House and Senate.
During November, Lamberth and Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson introduced the Protecting Children from Gender Mutilation Act. Under the proposed legislation, it would be illegal for doctors to provide puberty inhibitors or cross-sex hormones to children or to conduct gender-confirming surgery on them. Patients and their families would be able to file lawsuits against physicians for damages, and the courts may fine them an extra $25,000.
Johnson remarked, “This measure is about safeguarding children.” It is unacceptable to subject adolescents to irreversible elective operations that mutilate their bodies or cause them reproductive damage. The long-term health risks of this practice are too great for youngsters to fully comprehend.
After a pledge by Governor Measure Lee to halt the life-altering surgeries on minors, the bill has made its way through both houses of the Tennessee legislature.
We must not permit actions that will have lasting, negative effects on children’s lives. This practice should cease in Tennessee with the help of the General Assembly,” Lee stated back in October.
Given the Republican majority in both houses of Congress, the plan is very guaranteed to become law, regardless of the opposition from Democrats.