State Rep. Brad Paquette and the Michigan House on Wednesday approved his plan to protect children from irreversible sex rejecting-transition procedures and treatments.

House Bill 4467, the Protecting Minors from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation Act, would prohibit doctors from performing sex-transition surgeries on minors and prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones for the purpose of changing a child’s sex characteristics.

“Children should not be subjected to permanent, life-altering medical procedures before they are old enough to fully understand the consequences,” said Paquette. “These treatments are not founded upon quality long term evidence and often leave lasting physical and emotional scars. Our job is to protect kids from being dependent upon lifelong pharmaceuticals in the name of doing something that is impossible i.e. changing sex.”

The legislation would also allow individuals who underwent prohibited procedures as minors to pursue legal action after reaching adulthood. The bill also gives individuals additional time to seek justice if they later discover they were harmed by treatments received as children.

“We’ve been told that these procedures are settled science, but systematic reviews out of the UK, Finland, Norway, and from our own Health and Human Services definitely say otherwise.” Paquette said. “Lawmakers have a duty to uphold health policy of ‘do no harm,’ especially while considering the most vulnerable young people among us.”

Paquette said the legislation is rooted in a simple belief that minors deserve care that addresses underlying struggles without exposing them to irreversible medical interventions that do not live up to high standards in evidence based medicine.

“This is about protecting vulnerable children who often have multiple comorbidities,” Paquette said. “A child who is struggling with their biological makeup deserves compassion, support, and guidance. They require adults willing to tell them the truth, that sex cannot be changed, and help them through difficult moments of accepting themselves how they are, not lead them to the idea they were born wrong.”

House Bill 4467 now moves to the Senate for consideration.