Illinois ‘Youth Health Protection Act’ (HB 3515)

HB 3515 would prohibit doctors from providing transgender minors with any transition-related health care.

The bill would prohibit a doctor from providing puberty-suppressing drugs or cross-sex hormones and from performing surgical orchiectomy or castration, urethroplasty, vaginoplasty, mastectomy, phalloplasty, or metoidioplasty on anyone under the age of 18 for the purpose of treating gender dysphoria or gender discordance.

Any attempt to modify the anatomy, physiology, or biochemistry of a minor experiencing gender dysphoria would be considered “unprofessional conduct.” A physician who provides a transgender minor with any transition-related care—including providing referrals—would be subject to discipline, and may have their medical license revoked.

The bill defines “biological sex” to mean:

[…]a person’s objective, immutable biological sex, which may be understood according to the following: In biology, an organism is male or female if it is structured to perform one of the respective roles in reproduction. This definition does not require any arbitrary measurable or quantifiable physical characteristics or behaviors; it requires understanding the reproductive system and the reproduction process. Different animals have different reproductive systems, but sexual reproduction occurs when the sex cells from the male and female of the species come together to form newly fertilized embryos. It is these reproductive roles that provide the conceptual basis for the differentiation of animals into the biological categories of male and female. There is no other widely accepted biological classification for the sexes.

The bill uses the phrase “biologically healthy and anatomically normal persons” when referring to minors who might be seeking such treatment.

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Related Legislation

Related to HB 3831, which would prohibit the state’s Medicaid program from providing coverage for gender-affirming surgery.

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Latest Action

2/15/19 – Introduced.

3/14/19 – Referred to House Informed Consent Committee.

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People