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ENGROSSED HOUSE
BILL NO. 2177 By: West (Kevin), Olsen,
Crosswhite Hader, Gann,
Conley, and Maynard of the
House
and
Bullard of the Senate
An Act relating to public health and safety; defining
terms; prohibiting certain health care professionals
from performing or attempting to perform gender
transition procedures; providing exceptions;
prohibiting use of public funds f or gender transition
procedures; prohibiting certain gender transition
procedures; defining certain conduct as
unprofessional; requiring revocation of license or
certificate; prescribing statute of limitations for
disciplinary proceedings; authorizing cert ain claims
or defenses; prescribing statute of lim itations;
authorizing civil acti ons by minors; authorizing
civil actions after majority; authorizing certain
actions without exhaustion of administrative
remedies; authorizing attorney fees; authorizing
Attorney General to bring enforcement actions;
prohibiting state insurance program reimbursements;
providing for construction of act; providing for
severability; providing for codification; and
declaring an emergency .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE P EOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law t o be codified
in the Oklahoma Statute s as Section 2607 of Title 63, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. As used in this act:
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1. "Biological sex" means the biological indication of male and
female in the context of reproductive potential or capacity, such as
sex chromosomes, naturally occur ring sex hormones, gonads, and
nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth,
without regard to an individual's psychological, chosen, or
subjective experience of gend er;
2. "Gender" means the psychological, behavioral, social, and
cultural aspects of being male or female;
3. "Health care professional" means a person who is licensed,
certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this state to
administer health care in the ordinary course of the practice of his
or her profession;
4. "Physician" means a person who is licensed in t his state to
practice medicine; and
5. "Public funds" means state, county, or local government
monies, in addition to any department, agency, or instrumentality
authorized or appropriated under state law or derived from any fund
in which such monies are deposited.
B. A physician, mental health professi onal, or other health
care professional shall not knowingly engage in or cause a ny of the
following practices to be performed upon any person under eighteen
(18) years of age if the practice is performed for th e purpose of
attempting to alter the appearance of or affirm the minor's
perception of his or her gender or biological sex, if that
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appearance or perception is inconsistent with the minor's biological
sex as defined in this act:
1. Prescribing or administering gonadotropin-releasing hormone
analogues or another synthetic drug used to stop luteinizin g hormone
and follicle-stimulating hormone secretion, synthetic antiandrogen
drugs used to block the androgen receptor, or any drug to suppress
or delay normal puberty ;
2. Prescribing or administering testosterone, estrogen, or
progesterone to a minor in an amount greater than would normally be
produced endogenously in a healthy individual of that individual's
age and biological sex;
3. Performing surgeries that sterilize, including castration,
vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, orchiectomy, and penectomy;
4. Performing surgeries that art ificially construct tissue with
the appearance of genitalia that differs from the individual's
biological sex, including metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, and
vaginoplasty; or
5. Removing any healthy or non-diseased body part or tissue for
the purpose of changing the appearance of one's biological sex.
C. A physician, mental health professional, or other health
care professional shall not knowingly engage in conduct that a ids or
abets the practices described in subsec tion B of this section to any
person under eighteen (18) years of age. This section may not be
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construed to impose liability on any speech or con duct protected by
federal or state law.
D. Subsections B and C of this section do not apply to:
1. Services to persons born with a medically veri fiable
disorder of sex development, including a per son with external
biological sex characteristics that are irresolvably ambiguous, such
as those born with 46 XX chromosomes with virilization, 46 XY
chromosomes with under-virilization, or having both ovar ian and
testicular tissue;
2. Services provided when a physician has otherwise diagnosed a
disorder of sexual development that the physici an has determined,
through genetic or biochemical testing , is caused by the person not
having normal sex chromosomes structure, sex steroid hormone
production, or sex steroid hormone action;
3. Treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder
that has been caused by or exace rbated by the performance of a
procedure described in s ubsection B of this section, whether or not
the procedure was performed in accordance with state and federal law
or whether or not funding for the procedure is permissible under
this act;
4. Any procedure undertaken because the individual suffers from
a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that
would, as certified by a physician, place the individual in imminent
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danger of death or impairment of major bodily function unle ss such
procedure is performed; or
5. The six-month period following the effective date of this
act for individuals who are currently being prescribed medication
prohibited pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 of subsection B of this
section and the services being provided to them by a physician, or
other health care profes sional, to help curtail and taper the
hormone- or puberty-blocking medication that has been prescribed to
these individuals.
E. It shall be prohibited for any public funds in this state to
be directly or indirectly used, granted, paid, or distributed to any
entity, organization, or individual for the provision of the
services described in subsection B of this section to any minor or
adult. No facility that receives p ublic funds shall allow its staff
or facilities to be used to perform the services described in
subsection B of this section on any minor or adult. Any violation
of this section shall result in the loss of public funding to the
entity, organization, or individual for a minimum of one (1) year
and shall not be reins tated until full compliance with this act.
F. 1. Any violation of subsections B or C of this section
shall be considered unprofessional conduct and shall, upon an
adverse ruling by the appropriate licensing board, result in
immediate revocation of the li cense or certificate of the physician,
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mental health professional, or other health care professional for a
period of one (1) year.
2. Disciplinary proceedings against the physician, mental
health professional, or health care professional m ust be commenced
not later than the date as of which the individual upon whom the
services described in subsection B of this section were performed
attains forty-five (45) years of age.
3. A person may assert an actual or threatened violation of
this act as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative
proceeding and obtain compensatory damages, injunctive relief,
declaratory relief, or any other appropriate relief.
4. A person shall bring a claim for a violation of this act no
later than the date of which the individual upon whom the services
described in subsection B of this section were performed attains
forty-five (45) years of age.
5. An individual under eighteen (18) years of age may bring an
action throughout his or her minority through a parent or next
friend, and may bring an action in his or her own name upon reaching
majority at any time from that point until twenty-seven (27) years
after reaching the age of majority.
6. The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce
compliance with this act. Nothing in this act shall be construed to
deny, impair, or otherwise affect any right or authority of the
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Attorney General, the state, or any agency, officer, or employee of
the state to institute or intervene in any action or proceeding.
7. In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of this
act, a prevailing party who establishes a violation of this act
shall recover reasonable attorney fees.
G. Insurance coverage for the services described in subsections
B and C of this section performed within this state on any minor or
adult shall be prohibited.
1. A health benefit plan under an insurance policy or other
plan providing health care coverage in this state shall not include
reimbursement for the services described in subsections B and C of
this section whether performed on a minor or adult.
2. A health benefit plan under an insurance policy or other
plan providing health care coverage in this state is not required to
provide coverage for the services described in subsection B of this
section whether performed on a minor or adult.
H. To the extent the state or any private party is enjoined
from enforcing any part or application of this act, all other parts
or applications of that subsection and all other subsections are
severable and enforceable. It is the Legislature's intent that any
lawful subsection, application, or part of a subsection remain
enforceable no matter the number of subsections, parts of
subsections, or applications deemed unenforce able. Under no
circumstance should a court c onclude the Legislature intended that
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the state or private party be enjoined from enforcing any
subsection, application, or part of a subsection not deemed
independently unenforceable.
SECTION 2. It being immediately necessary f or the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
Passed the House of Representatives the 28th day of February,
2023.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the ____ day of __________, 2023.
Presiding Officer of the Sena te