THE Swedish The government has proposed that children under the age of 12 be allowed to go on gender reassignment without medical examination or approval. A draft law states that only the consent of the guardian will be required.
The bill, which was published for consultation by the Ministry of Social Affairs on Tuesday, reportedly contains two laws, one amending the current procedures for gender reassignment in the national population register and another for corrective medical care and surgery.
At the moment, a doctor’s statement is required to change the legal gender to the Swedish Tax Service, which can be done from the age of 18. The government has long sought to modernize the country’s gender legislation.
“The person can live based on gender and identity”
“It is important for the person to be able to live based on their gender and identity. “When we talk about gender reassignment in the population register, it is a different matter from interfering with one’s genitals,” Social Democrat Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren told public broadcaster SVT.
While the age limit for corrective gender-based medical care will continue to be 18, applicants will not need permission from the National Board of Health and Welfare to undergo surgery. Instead, the necessary examinations will be done by local doctors.
Noting that it was difficult to predict whether the number of gender reassignment applications would increase if the bill was implemented, Halengren also added that discussions about the procedure between an individual and doctors would continue to be important.
An earlier iteration of the bill in 2018 was harshly criticized by Sweden’s legal council. Among other things, he proposed lowering the age limit for surgery to 15 years, without requiring the consent of the guardian. It would also allow 15-year-olds to change their biological sex without consent.
The bill has been described as an important step in strengthening trans rights by the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and Transgender Rights (RFSL). However, Sweden’s Democrat MP Angelika Lundberg had proposed raising the age limit to 25 last year, warning that a large number of young people who change their biological gender later regretted their choice.
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