OREGON ALLOWS 15-YEAR-OLDS TO GET STATE-SUBSIDIZED SEX-CHANGE OPERATIONS—WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT

Now that the state of Oregon requires Medicaid to pay for gender-reassignment (i.e., sex-change) surgery, children as young as 15 can have the procedure performed without getting parental consent—or without even notifying their parents at all.

The Background: After being lobbied by a transgender rights group last year, Oregon’s Health Evidence Review Commission (HERC) changed its Medicaid policies to approve coverage for cross-sex hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgeries. In 2013, the commission approved coverage for puberty suppression hormones for gender-questioning youth. All of these changes took effect January 1, 2015.

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