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Utah committee backs bill to make moratorium on most transgender treatments for minors permanent
Summary
The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 10‑3 to recommend HB 174, which would make the 2023 moratorium on most transgender medical treatments for minors permanent and set a deadline for ongoing treatments; testimony divided sharply between detransitioners and clinicians who said care is life‑saving.
The Utah House Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday voted 10‑3 to favorably recommend HB 174, a bill from Representative Shipp that would make permanent the moratorium enacted by 2023’s SB 16 and require that certain ongoing treatments stop by the sponsor’s statutory cutoff.
Supporters told the committee the measure is a medical‑caution step to protect minors from irreversible harms. Retired pediatrician David Betker, one of several medical witnesses, framed the debate around standards of evidence and asserted systematic reviews show very low certainty for long‑term benefits of puberty blockers and cross‑sex hormones. "The systematic review does this for medical research," Betker said, arguing the evidence base did not justify routine use of those interventions in children.
Opponents —…
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