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New York requires state health officials to develop an outreach program to educate the public about the harmful impacts of medically unnecessary treatments performed on young children born intersex.
ByThe Associated Press
November 9, 2023, 1:22 p.m.
FILE – The New York State Capitol in Albany, NY, on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. New York requires state health officials to develop an outreach program to educate parents and doctors about the harmful impacts of treatments medically unnecessary procedures performed on babies born with physical traits that do not fit the typical definitions of the male or female categories. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
The Associated Press
ALBANY, NY — New York requires state health officials to develop an outreach program to educate parents and physicians about the harmful impacts of medically unnecessary treatments performed on young children born intersex.
The measure, which was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, aims to raise awareness among people who are born with genitals, chromosomes or reproductive organs that do not fit typical definitions of male or female. The New York City Council implemented a similar measure in 2021.
Proponents of the state legislation say medically unnecessary operations on babies and young children born intersex carry a number of potential negative impacts that parents and doctors should be aware of.
“This education will be key to helping parents understand that surgery is permanent and can cause irreversible physical and psychological effects,” state Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright said in a statement.
Several health and human rights organizations, including Physicians for Human Rights, a US-based nonprofit that fights human rights violations around the world, have in the past called for an end to medical treatments. .
In a 2017 memo, Physicians for Human Rights referred to surgeries performed on intersex newborns as “cruel” and “inhumane,” saying they could result in sterilization and decreased sexual function. Surgeries should only be done when the child is old enough to make decisions about her body, they said.
Most advocacy groups estimate that about 5.6 million people in the United States are born intersex, according to The Associated Press. That estimate is based on a review published in the American Journal of Human Biology that analyzed four decades of medical literature from 1955 to 1998.
An advisory board that would help develop the public outreach program in New York should include intersex people and health care professionals who have medical experience in the treatment of intersex patients, according to legislation.
In California, a majority of state lawmakers rejected a bill in 2020 that would have banned some medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children until they were old enough to participate in the decision.
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