Relative to health care professionals administering hormone treatments and puberty blockers and relative to recognizing the second Thursday in October as children's environmental health day.
Summary
HB 377 would create a new chapter in New Hampshire law prohibiting health care providers and other persons from knowingly performing or offering to perform, or administering or offering to administer, certain medical procedures or medications to minors when the purpose is to alter or affirm a minor’s gender identity in a way inconsistent with the minor’s biological sex. The bill specifically references puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone medications, and it bars treatment aimed at enabling a minor to live as a gender identity inconsistent with biological sex or to address distress arising from that discordance. It includes an exception for treatment of minors with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development, and it also preserves ongoing treatment started before January 1, 2026, if it is related to the original procedure or prescription.
The bill also creates enforcement mechanisms. Violations would be subject to administrative discipline by the board of medicine rather than criminal liability, and the bill authorizes a private right of action for an aggrieved minor to seek damages and injunctive relief, with attorney’s fees available to a prevailing party. The attorney general would also have authority to enforce the chapter. Separately, the bill designates the second Thursday in October as children’s environmental health day and directs the governor to issue an annual proclamation encouraging public awareness of clean air, clean water, safe food, and safe consumer products.
Impact
HB 377 would add a new chapter to the New Hampshire Revised Statutes governing medical treatment for minors related to gender transition, creating new restrictions on providers and new civil enforcement rights. It would affect health care professionals, minors seeking puberty blockers or hormone treatments, medical boards, and potentially schools or public entities through the bill’s broad definition of “person.” It would also amend RSA 4:13 to add a new annual observance, children’s environmental health day. The fiscal note indicates no direct revenue impact but possible indeterminable costs to the judicial, correctional, and administrative systems due to enforcement and litigation.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been generally supported by its sponsors and advanced through the legislative process, but it was also clearly controversial. The voting history shows mixed and closely divided votes on related procedural and amendment questions, suggesting significant disagreement over the underlying policy. The committee ultimately recommended the bill with amendment, and the conference committee report was adopted, indicating enough support to move the measure forward despite opposition.
Contention
The main point of contention is the bill’s restriction on gender-affirming medical care for minors, especially the prohibition on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones when used to affirm a gender identity inconsistent with biological sex. Supporters frame the measure as protecting children and limiting irreversible medical interventions, while opponents are likely to view it as interfering with medical judgment and access to care for transgender youth. Additional issues include the bill’s private right of action, which allows lawsuits for damages and attorney’s fees, and the breadth of its definitions and enforcement provisions. The children’s environmental health day provision appears noncontroversial and separate from the central dispute.