Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Allowing Malpractice Lawsuits Against Doctors for 30-Year-Old Gender Reassignment Procedures

Lawmakers in Tennessee are advancing legislation that would let patients sue their doctors for “coercing” them into receiving so-called gender-affirming care — up to 30 years after the procedures took place. The Tennessee Senate voted 24-5 on Tuesday to pass Senate Bill 2031, which allows a patient to sue a doctor for a “medical procedure” — including administering puberty blockers or performing surgeries — if it was performed “due to an act of coercion by the healthcare professional.”The bill relies on the definition of “coercion” used in criminal statutes. And it opens healthcare professionals up to a 30-year statute of limitations. A state senator who sponsored the legislation, Adam Lowe, told lawmakers that the bill focuses on people who are “de-transitioning” after gender treatments they received “under some sort of premise of wellness that they didn’t achieve.”A Democrat who opposed the legislation, Heidi Campbell, said that there is a “negligible” number of people in the state who are seeking such procedures and said it “pains” her that the legislation is spending “so much time attacking transgender people in our state.”A House version of the bill was passed by the judiciary committee on Monday. Most states let patients sue medical professionals for coercion if they can show the doctor engaged in coercive actions and caused injury, including physical harm or emotional distress. However, the statutes of limitations tend to be much shorter than Tennessee’s bill, often a couple of years, not decades. S.B. 2031 comes as lawmakers in Tennessee and other conservative states are trying to stamp out what they call “gender ideology.” Lawmakers in the Volunteer State are considering several other bills involving gender issues. A House bill would make it optional for students to use a teacher’s preferred honorifics, so that students will not have to refer to teachers as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” if their teacher identifies as a different gender than their biological sex. The sponsor of the bill, Aron Maberry, suggested that instead of using honorifics, students could refer to their teachers as “Teacher” followed by the first initials of their last name. Another bill would require clinics that perform gender-related procedures to report the number of procedures they perform, their patients’ demographics, and the medications they have prescribed to the state. Supporters of the bill say that it provides transparency into the procedures, but critics say the reporting requirements infringe on patients’ personal freedoms.

Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Allowing Malpractice Lawsuits Against Doctors for 30-Year-Old Gender Reassignment Procedures

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