At its upcoming March 19 meeting, the Alaska State Medical Board is set to discuss a proposed bill in the State House that would effectively ban puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries on anyone under 18, while enacting strict informed-consent requirements, expanded civil liability, and criminal penalties on physicians who violate the law.

Sponsored by Rep. Jamie Allard (R-Eagle River), House Bill 342 was introduced last month and currently sits in the Health & Social Services Committee.

If passed, the legislation would mark a significant shift in Alaska law, which currently contains no specific statutes regulating or restricting controversial transgender procedures that are performed on minors.

The bill addresses both cross-sex hormones and surgeries, such as breast amputations and genital manipulations aimed at making a minor appear as the opposite sex.

Given that the bill would require the State Medical Board to develop a standardized informed-consent form that physicians must provide to every patient at every visit for at least one year, the Medical Board members are slated to hear a presentation on the matter at their upcoming meeting.

Last year, the Alaska State Medical Board issued a statement in opposition to transgender surgeries and hormonal treatments for gender-confused youth “due to insufficient evidence of long-term benefits and risks of irreversible harm.”

“We view these interventions as lacking legitimacy as standard medical practice for those under the age of 18 years old,” the Alaska State Medical Board stated last March. “We support legislative limits on such treatments and promote psychological support and counseling as safer alternatives. This reflects our duty to protect patients and uphold evidence-based care.”

Since issuing the statement, controversy over transgender surgeries and cross sex hormones has only become more heated.

Last month, a young woman in New York won a $2 million court case against the gender transition industry, after arguing that she was permanently disfigured when surgeons removed her breasts as a 16-year-old.

A few days later, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), which includes 11,000 members and nearly every plastic surgeon in Alaska, formally came out in opposition to transgender surgical procedures on minors.

While Rep. Allard’s legislation is not likely to make much headway in the Democrat-controlled Alaska State House, it has sparked conversation about how Alaska should deal with doctors who engage in controversial transgender surgical and hormonal manipulation of minors.

Allard’s bill states that the FDA has not approved sex hormones for treating gender dysphoria or incongruence, and notes that several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Finland, have determined that any “benefits” do not outweigh the risks.

Key provisions in the bill include the following:

— A clear statutory declaration that minors under 18 cannot legally consent to these procedures

— New civil liability rules allowing patients (or their guardians) who received the procedures as minors to sue physicians for resulting injuries

— Creation of the crime of “criminal sex-reassignment treatment or procedure,” a class C felony for knowingly performing such interventions on a minor or on an adult without voluntary, informed written consent

Supporters of such restrictions argue that they protect children from irreversible medical interventions that lack strong long-term evidence and carry serious risks, including sterility, loss of bone density, cardiovascular problems, and potential impacts on brain development.

TAKING ACTION

— Click here to read House Bill 342.

— Click here to contact members of the House Health & Social Services Committee, where the bill is currently sitting.

— Click here for the Zoom link to watch the Alaska Medical Board’s March 19 meeting, which starts at 4 p.m.

Click here to support Alaska Watchman reporting.