Oregon Allows 15-Year-Olds to Get Sex-Change Operations without Parents' Consent

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Jul 10, 2015

Oregon Allows 15-Year-Olds to Get Sex-Change Operations without Parents' Consent

A policy allowing 15-year-olds in Oregon to undergo a sex-reassignment surgery without the knowledge or consent of parents was passed in January, without gleaning media attention. Fox News reports the policy is the first of its kind in the U.S. and allows transgender children to seek cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty-suppressing drugs and sex changes all paid for by the state. 

The policy was passed by Oregon’s health Evidence Review Commission (HERC), who believe that allowing children with gender identity disorder access to the therapies, drugs and surgeries will reduce the number of suicides in the state.

The Oregon Health Authority website indicates that the transgender policy was discussed at four meetings in 2014, then passed without opposition in January.

Doctors do not have to notify parents of children 15 and above, as 15 is the age of medical consent in Oregon. 

Now that the policy has been brought to media attention, disgusted parents are speaking out. 

Lori Porter of Parents’ Rights in Education said, "It is trespassing on the hearts, the minds, the bodies of our children. They're our children. And for a decision, a life-altering decision like that to be done unbeknownst to a parent or guardian, it's mindboggling." 

Many fear that children as young as 15 do not fully understand the consequences of undergoing the procedures.

Publication date: July 10, 2015



Oregon Allows 15-Year-Olds to Get Sex-Change Operations without Parents' Consent