The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
December 18, 2025

House Advances Bill That Would Criminalize Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Civil rights groups are blasting a bill narrowly approved by the House
on Wednesday that would criminalize providing gender-affirming medical
care for any transgender person under 18 and subject providers to hefty
fines and up to 10 years in prison. In a statement, the ACLU wrote,
"Families often spend years considering how best to support their
children, only to have ill-equipped politicians interfere by attempting
to criminalize the health care that they, their children, and their
doctors believe is necessary to allow their children to thrive."


.