§1098.2. Healthcare professionals; restrictions

            A. A healthcare professional shall not knowingly engage in any of the following acts that attempt to alter a minor's appearance in an attempt to validate a minor's perception of the minor's sex, if the minor's perception is inconsistent with the minor's sex:

            (1) The prescription or administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues or other synthetic drugs used to stop luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone secretion, synthetic antiandrogen drugs used to block the androgen receptor, or any drug to suppress or delay normal puberty.

            (2) The prescription or administration of testosterone, estrogen, or progesterone in amounts greater than would normally be produced endogenously in a healthy individual of the same age and sex.

            (3) The performance of any sterilizing surgery, including but not limited to castration, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, orchiectomy, penectomy, and vasectomy.

            (4) The performance of any surgery that artificially constructs tissue having the appearance of genitalia differing from the minor's sex, including metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty.

            (5) The removal of any healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.

            (6) The performance of augmentation mammoplasty, facial feminization surgery, liposuction, lipofilling, pectoral implants, voice surgery, thyroid cartilage reduction, gluteal augmentation, hair reconstruction, or any aesthetic surgical procedure.

            B. The prohibited acts listed in Subsection A of this Section shall not be considered healthcare services.

            C. The prohibitions listed in Subsection A of this Section shall not limit or restrict the provision of health care to:

            (1) A minor born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development, including but not limited to external sex characteristics that are irresolvably ambiguous.

            (2) A minor diagnosed with a disorder of sexual development, if a healthcare professional has determined, through genetic or biochemical testing, that the minor does not have a sex chromosome structure, sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action that is normal for a biological male or biological female.

            (3) A minor needing treatment for an infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has been caused or exacerbated by any action or procedure prohibited by this Part.

            (4) A minor suffering from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that is certified by a healthcare provider and that would place the individual in imminent danger of death or impairment of major bodily function unless surgery is performed.

            D. If, prior to January 1, 2024, a healthcare professional has initiated a course of treatment for a minor which includes the prescription or administration of any drug or hormone prohibited by this Part, and if the healthcare professional determines and documents in the minor's medical record that immediately terminating the minor's use of the drug or hormone would cause harm to the minor, the healthcare professional may institute a period during which the minor's use of the drug or hormone is systematically reduced and discontinued. The period may not extend beyond December 31, 2024.

            Acts 2023, No. 466, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2024.

NOTE: Former R.S. 40:1098.2 redesignated as R.S. 40:1079.12 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S.