Bill to bar elective breast surgeries on minors draws sharply divided testimony in Concord

CONCORD, N.H. — Senators heard deeply divided testimony on House Bill 712 Tuesday, a proposal to restrict gender‑affirming chest surgeries for minors while carving out narrow medical exceptions.

Sponsor Representative Lisa Mazer told the Senate Health and Human Services Committee the bill aims to protect children from irreversible body‑altering procedures performed before they are fully mature. “This bill is grounded in a simple but crucial question: Do children change their minds?” Mazer said, arguing that breast removal for cosmetic gender affirmation can cause lifelong loss of function and later regret. She framed the measure as a narrow protection for minors while preserving surgical options for clearly defined medical needs such as severe juvenile macromastia with posture or pain issues, reconstructive needs after trauma, and other listed exceptions.

The hearing attracted large public turnout and sharply personal testimony. Several speakers described long, painful waits for hysterectomies and testified in favor of HB 712, while others — including multiple current and former patients, parents of trans children and clinicians — opposed the ban as overly broad or potentially harmful.

Dartmouth Health’s senior government‑relations director, Courtney Tanner, told the committee Dartmouth has gender‑affirming care clinics and expressed concern that the bill’s referral ban could interfere with the clinician‑patient‑family relationship. Tanner said Dartmouth does not perform top surgeries on minors in New Hampshire and warned the bill’s disciplinary penalties could have chilling effects: “We would have great concerns about prohibiting referrals thereof,” she said.

Detransitioners and parents of those who regret surgery testified in favor of prohibiting elective chest surgery for children. One witness, Prisha Mosley, described undergoing chest surgery as a young adult and later experiencing chronic pain and breastfeeding complications; she told senators her “surgery left me with nerve damage and painful scar tissue.” Other witnesses called the practice a form of irreversible harm and urged the committee to ban cosmetic mastectomies for minors.

Opponents warned HB 712 would impede the ability of adolescents, their parents and clinical teams to make individualized medical decisions. Representative Erica Leon, a co‑sponsor of related language, defended a carefully drafted exception list that supporters say preserves surgery for genuine medical necessity such as symptomatic macromastia or trauma. Critics noted the bill’s referral prohibition language and professional‑discipline penalties and asked for clearer drafting to avoid chilling routine clinical communication and referrals.

Senators repeatedly pressed Dartmouth and the New Hampshire Medical Society on whether any New Hampshire hospitals currently perform top surgery on minors; Dartmouth representatives reiterated that they do not perform top surgeries for minors in the state but said the referral prohibition still raises constitutional and clinical‑practice concerns. Several legislators also asked about private insurance billing data that advocacy groups have cited; committee staff said they would request clearer documentation and that Dartmouth offered to work with staff on technical clarifications.

No committee vote was taken. The hearing underscored a sharp divide among families, clinicians and advocacy organizations: some framed the bill as child‑protection, others as an intrusion into medical judgment and parental decision‑making. Senators asked staff and counsel to review the referral, professional‑discipline, and constitutional issues raised during testimony before advancing the matter.