Monday was the first hearing for Senate Bill 164, making it a crime for any adult who helps a child seek medical care that includes surgical procedures or medication that alter a child’s perception to be of a different sex than the one the child was “assigned at birth”. Proponents argue the bill will protect Montana’s youth from experimental treatments with life-altering results.
“This legislation is critical to protecting Montana children from harmful and irreversible medical interventions,” Derek Oestreicher, the chief legal counsel and director of government affairs for the Montana Family Foundation told the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday.
Opponents argue the bill criminalizes doctors and families who are trying to help children get the care they need, and cause more harm to the mental health of kids who experience gender dysphoria. Dr. Kathryn Brogan, who is a double-board-certified psychiatrist and the president of the Montana Psychiatric Association, was one of the many healthcare providers who testified in opposition to the bill. She said she has seen her patients improve when they receive gender affirming care. She said this bill would penalize parents who try to support their child’s needs. She says, “This bill seeks to criminalize the practice of medicine and parental choice, would take children from their parents, and endanger the very children it purportedly seeks to protect,” Brogan said.
A similar bill passed the Legislature in 2023 but has been held up in the courts. This bill would instead add gender-affirming care to the existing child endangerment laws. Proponents said SB 164 will not have the same legal challenges, but opponents argued that it would run into the same issues as the last bill.
KGEZ 20-20 News thanks Emma White, a reporter with the University of Montana School of Journalism for her work on this story.
