Delaware committee hears hours of testimony on bill to restrict gender-transition care for minors

Senate Health and Social Services Committee members spent more than two hours on Oct. 27 hearing testimony about Senate Bill 55, a proposal that would ban gender‑transition medical interventions for minors in Delaware and impose licensing and civil penalties on clinicians who provide or refer such care.

Sponsor Senator Richardson framed the bill as child‑protection legislation and said lawmakers should act regardless of decisions elsewhere, noting a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision he expected “probably sometime in June.” He told the committee SB 55 would bar “gender transition procedures for children due to the potential for irrevocable harm” and would provide civil remedies and disciplinary actions against clinicians who participate in prohibited care.

Supporters told the committee the practices currently used in pediatric gender clinics are experimental, cite poor evidence, and risk permanent physical harm. Jamie Reid, introduced as a former pediatric gender clinic employee and whistleblower, said she worked with nearly 1,500 patients over five years and described changes in referral patterns: “We went from screening 4 to 5 new patients per month to screening 40 to 60,” and she said one parent told staff “my child is a shell of their former self.” Reid said she believes the protocol harms patients and described her decision to blow the whistle as closing a clinic and contributing to a Missouri law change.

Detransitioner Camille Kiefel, president of D Trans Health, described having top surgery as an adult and later regretting it, saying she was not fully informed about surgical…