Pillen Signs Off on Regulations Toward Gender-Altering Treatments for Minors
LINCOLN–(KFOR Mar. 12)–Regulations governing nonsurgical pharmaceutical gender altering treatments for anyone under 19 years old were approved by Governor Jim Pillen on Tuesday.
Legislative Bill 574, also known as the Let Them Grow Act, was passed in 2023. It requires the Department of Health and Human Services’ chief medical officer to provide guidance and rules for nonsurgical pharmaceutical gender altering treatments for anyone under 19. This includes establishing the criteria and conditions for regulation of prescriptions, delivery, sale and use of puberty-blocking drugs and/or cross-sex hormones.
Pillen approved the following regulations:
- The requirement that a patient receive a minimum of 40 gender-identity-focused contact hours of therapeutic treatment prior to receiving the prescribed medications
- Required procedures for obtaining and documenting a patient’s informed consent for treatment
- A minimum waiting period of seven days between the informed patient consent and the time the drugs or hormones are prescribed, administered or delivered to the patient
- Requirements related to the labeling, administration of, and delivery of the puberty-blocking drugs and/or cross-sex hormones
- The requirement that a patient under the age of majority must receive at least one therapeutic contact hour every 90 days while the drugs or hormones are being administered to evaluate ongoing effects on the patient’s mental health
- Patient medical record documentation requirements for prescribing practitioners
- The requirement that a health care practitioner obtain three hours of continuing education prior to prescribing drugs or cross-sex hormones
However, a patient is exempt from the requirements if:
- The patient began receiving the prescribed medication prior to October 1, 2023
- The medication is not being prescribed for the treatment of gender nonconformity or gender dysphoria
- The patient has reached the age of 19
The regulations were filed with the Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday, and they will take effect on Sunday, according to Pillen.
