About the Bill

HB1916 | Rep. Mary Bentley and Sen. Alan Clark | House Committee on Judiciary 
This bill would add “gender-affirming intervention” to support a patient’s gender identity to the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2023 as a form of malpractice. It would allow a mental health professional who provides a “gender-affirming intervention” to be sued up to 15 years after the date on which the minor turns 18. The definition of “gender-affirming intervention” is overly broad and could include actions such as respecting a trans child’s name and pronouns or providing therapy.

AACF Testimony on April 8, House Committee on Judiciary

Nicole Carey, Education Policy Director, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Good morning, Madame Chair and members of the committee. My name is Nicole Carey. I am with Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. AACF has worked for more than 47 years to advocate that ALL children and families in Arkansas have access to the resources and opportunities they need to lead healthy, successful, and fulfilling lives.

I am here today to ask you to vote no on HB1916. This bill unnecessarily targets trans children to ensure that, after already prohibiting them from accessing medical services – some of the most restrictive laws in the U.S. – now they will also not have access to mental health treatment. This will have extremely detrimental effects on a population that already has the most restrictive access to care and some of the highest suicide rates as compared to their peers. Those high suicide rates are not because they are trans, but because they suffer higher rates of bullying and harassment and lack access to basic care and support because of unrelenting attempts to legislate them out of existence.

The definition of “gender-affirming intervention” is overly broad. While it does provide a couple of specific examples of prohibited interventions, namely puberty blockers and hormone therapy, it prohibits interventions to support a trans patient’s gender identity “without limitation.” Then it specifically adds mental health professionals to the list of individuals who can be sued. This makes it hard for mental health professionals to support trans kids by providing talk therapy or even honoring pronouns for fear they could be subject to court proceedings. Because the bill is so vague it will create a culture of fear and uncertainty by requiring a mental health professional to guess at what behavior is considered a “gender-affirming intervention.” Laws should be clear particularly when they prohibit actions. Individuals should be able to know, not guess what the law prohibits.

The bill will allow widespread discrimination against trans kids by forcing mental health providers to choose between providing a safe place and potentially being embroiled in a lawsuit up to 15+ years in the future. A civil lawsuit can devastate a person’s life because of the high costs of defending such a case. It will certainly result in fear-based decision making, instead of medically relevant and necessary decisions.

This bill targets trans children to the extent that it will be hard for them to just live their lives. Trans children are entitled to the same things as their counterparts, including the opportunity to feel safe and secure. Because this bill intentionally targets trans children and will result in serious harm, I would ask that you vote no on HB1916.