Bill
HB 1399
Prohibits licensed providers from giving cross-sex hormones or therapy to any minor for treating gender‑nonconformity related mental health diagnoses.
Status & Timing
- Introduced: 2025 session (listed as House Bill 1399). Assigned to Health and Government Operations.
- Proposed effective date in the bill: October 1, 2025.
- Department of Health (MDH) may adopt regulations to implement the law if enacted.
Purpose / Intent
- To prohibit licensed health care practitioners from prescribing, dispensing, administering, or otherwise providing “cross‑sex hormones” or “cross‑sex hormone therapy” to minors for the treatment of mental‑health diagnoses associated with gender nonconformity (including gender dysphoria). The title used in the bill is the “Protect the Kids Act.”
Key Definitions (as used in the bill)
- Cross‑sex hormone: a prescription hormone (e.g., estrogen, testosterone) or a hormone blocker (e.g., a testosterone blocker).
- Cross‑sex hormone therapy: treatment used to develop secondary sex characteristics for an individual transitioning from their sex assigned at birth to their experienced or expressed gender.
- Minor: an individual who has not reached the age of majority (i.e., under age 18).
Primary Provisions
- Prohibition: A licensed health care practitioner may not prescribe, dispense, administer, or otherwise provide cross‑sex hormones or cross‑sex hormone therapy to treat a mental‑health diagnosis related to gender nonconformity for any minor.
- Regulatory authority: MDH is authorized to adopt regulations to carry out the statute.
- Criminal penalty: Violation is classified as a felony; on conviction the statute states imprisonment not exceeding life.
Who Would Be Affected
- Minors seeking hormone‑based gender‑affirming treatment for gender dysphoria or other gender‑related mental‑health diagnoses.
- Licensed health care practitioners and clinical practices (physicians, advanced practice clinicians, pharmacies) — they would be barred from providing these hormone therapies to minors for the specified indications.
- Parents/guardians and families who pursue medical transition care for minors.
- Small health care businesses and clinics that currently provide or facilitate adolescent hormone therapy.
- State and local criminal justice systems (enforcement/prosecutions) and MDH (rulemaking/oversight).
Fiscal and Enforcement Notes
- Fiscal estimate (first reader/fiscal note): MDH can adopt implementing regulations using existing resources. The criminal penalty could produce a minimal increase in state and local correctional expenditures if convictions occur; overall revenue impacts are not projected.
- The fiscal note anticipates the number of prosecutions/convictions would likely be small, but those convicted could incur substantial incarceration costs.
Context / Related Law
- The bill targets hormone therapy for minors specifically and does not address non‑hormonal care or gender‑affirming treatments for adults. Existing Maryland law and recent acts (cited in analyses) had defined and in some instances protected “gender‑affirming treatment” for eligible individuals — HB 1399 would carve out a categorical prohibition for minors regarding cross‑sex hormones for the specified mental‑health indications.
Implications to Watch
- Legal and regulatory interaction with prior statutes protecting certain gender‑affirming care for adults and information‑sharing/insurance rules.
- Practical clinical implications for adolescent mental‑health care and pediatric/adolescent medicine practice.
- Potential constitutional, administrative, or professional‑disciplinary challenges if enacted.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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