To Amend The Protecting Minors From Medical Malpractice Act Of 2023; And To Include Gender-affirming Interventions As A Right Of Action For Medical Malpractice.
HB1916 amends Arkansas’s Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2023 to expressly add “gender-affirming intervention” to the list of covered medical malpractice claims involving minors. The bill defines gender-affirming intervention to include puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy, and it treats a healthcare professional’s performance of a gender transition procedure or gender-affirming intervention on a minor as potentially actionable if the minor is injured physically, psychologically, emotionally, or physiologically.
The bill creates a private right of action for the minor, or for a parent or legal guardian acting on the minor’s behalf, to seek declaratory or injunctive relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs. It also extends the filing window by allowing suit up to 15 years after the minor turns 18. In addition, the bill establishes a detailed “safe harbor” defense that requires extensive documentation, multiple written certifications from healthcare professionals, and informed consent procedures that include a mandatory warning statement about risks, regret, suicide, fertility, and long-term harms.
HB1916 would expand Arkansas medical malpractice law by creating a specific cause of action tied to gender-transition-related care for minors and by defining that care in statute. It would expose healthcare professionals, including mental health professionals, to civil liability for injuries alleged to result from gender-affirming interventions or related treatment, and it would impose new procedural and documentation requirements as a defense to liability. The bill would also affect minors, parents or guardians, and providers by increasing litigation risk and setting a lengthy statute of limitations for claims.
The bill appears to have received strong support in floor votes, passing the House 73-16 and the Senate 29-6. That voting pattern suggests broad Republican support and significant but limited opposition. No committee transcript is available here, but the bill’s language and vote margins indicate it was generally advanced as a measure to restrict or deter gender-affirming care for minors rather than as a neutral malpractice update.
The main point of contention is the treatment of gender-affirming care for minors. Supporters of the bill appear to view puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and related interventions as risky and potentially harmful, while opponents are likely to object to the bill’s framing of such care as malpractice, its restrictive consent and certification requirements, and its mandated warning language. The bill’s detailed notice provisions, references to foreign medical authorities, and broad liability exposure for providers are likely to be especially controversial among medical professionals, civil liberties advocates, and LGBTQ+ advocates.