Hobbs Vetoes Legislation to Expand Civil Liabilities for the Mutilation of Arizona Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                      

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Hobbs Vetoes Legislation to Expand Civil Liabilities

for the Mutilation of Arizona Children

PHOENIX, ARIZONA— Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp is expressing outrage after Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed legislation to add protections and remedies into state law for children and teens who undergo gender transition procedures but later suffer severe consequences into adulthood.

"Governor Hobbs continues to show her allegiance to radical left-wing ideology by turning a blind eye to the serious harm being inflicted on innocent and impressionable boys and girls through gender transition treatments and procedures," said Majority Leader Shamp. "There have been many tragic stories about children who have submitted to life-altering surgeries to change their gender – only to experience awful repercussions later on when they mature. Unfortunately, Governor Hobbs and her band of Democrat allies would rather these children’s lives be forever changed in one of the worst ways imaginable to satisfy their extreme ideological lust. Republicans will not stand for this callousness and endorsement of defacto child abuse. We will continue to fight on behalf of our precious sons and daughters until these inhumane and ungodly practices are abolished."

SB 1586, sponsored by Majority Leader Shamp, would have made a health care professional or physician who provides or provided a minor with a gender transition procedure strictly and personally liable for all costs associated with the subsequent detransition procedures sought by the patient, up to 26 years of age. The bill also expanded the opportunity for affected individuals – or their legal guardians – to explore civil lawsuits for prior gender transition procedures and injuries caused by these procedures. Additionally, the legislation prohibited a health care professional or physician from seeking a contractual waiver of the liability for gender transition procedures.

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For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

kquintero@azleg.gov