(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-33-103

  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Congenital defect: means a physical or chemical abnormality present in a minor that is inconsistent with the normal development of a human being of the minor's sex, including abnormalities caused by a medically verifiable disorder of sex development, but does not include gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, gender incongruence, or any mental condition, disorder, disability, or abnormality. See Tennessee Code 68-33-102
  • Healthcare provider: means a healthcare professional, establishment, or facility licensed, registered, certified, or permitted pursuant to this title or title 63 and under the regulatory authority of:
    (A) The department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-33-102
  • Medical procedure: means :
    (A) Surgically removing, modifying, altering, or entering into tissues, cavities, or organs of a human being. See Tennessee Code 68-33-102
  • Minor: means an individual under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 68-33-102
  • Parent: means any biological, legal, or adoptive parent or parents of the minor or any legal guardian of the minor. See Tennessee Code 68-33-102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Sex: means a person's immutable characteristics of the reproductive system that define the individual as male or female, as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth. See Tennessee Code 68-33-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) A healthcare provider shall not knowingly perform or offer to perform on a minor, or administer or offer to administer to a minor, a medical procedure if the performance or administration of the procedure is for the purpose of:

(A) Enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex; or
(B) Treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.
(2) Subdivision (a)(1) applies to medical procedures that are:

(A) Performed or administered in this state; or
(B) Performed or administered on a minor located in this state, including via telehealth, as defined in § 63-1-155.
(b)

(1) It is not a violation of subsection (a) if a healthcare provider knowingly performs, or offers to perform, a medical procedure on or administers, or offers to administer, a medical procedure to a minor if:

(A) The performance or administration of the medical procedure is to treat a minor’s congenital defect, precocious puberty, disease, or physical injury; or
(B) The performance or administration of the medical procedure on the minor began prior to the effective date of this act and concludes on or before March 31, 2024.
(2) For purposes of subdivision (b)(1)(A), “disease” does not include gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, gender incongruence, or any mental condition, disorder, disability, or abnormality.
(3) For the exception in subdivision (b)(1)(B) to apply, the minor’s treating physician must certify in writing that, in the physician’s good-faith medical judgment, based upon the facts known to the physician at the time, ending the medical procedure would be harmful to the minor. The certification must include the findings supporting the certification and must be made a part of the minor’s medical record.
(4) The exception in subdivision (b)(1)(B) does not allow a healthcare provider to perform or administer a medical procedure that is different from the medical procedure performed prior to the effective date of this act when the sole purpose of the subsequent medical procedure is to:

(A) Enable the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex; or
(B) Treat purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.
(c)

(1) It is not a defense to any legal liability incurred as the result of a violation of this section that the minor, or a parent of the minor, consented to the conduct that constituted the violation.
(2) This section supersedes any common law rule regarding a minor’s ability to consent to a medical procedure that is performed or administered for the purpose of:

(A) Enabling the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex; or
(B) Treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.
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