Austin, Texas - The Texas Senate has approved a bill Monday that will, if passed, classify providing gender-affirming health care to transgender kids under 18 as child abuse.

The Texas Senate tentatively approved the anti-trans bill on Monday in a sharply divided 18-13 vote, according to The Texas Tribune.

Senate Bill 1646 is yet another attempt to prevent trans children from transitioning as a wave of similar bills have been introduced across the states.

Authored by Lubbock Republican Senator Charles Perry, the bill would broaden the legal definition of abuse under Texas Family Code to include providing puberty-blocking treatment, hormone therapy, or surgery for the purpose of gender transitioning.

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Perry argued that the bill was required to prevent children from making irreversible mistakes, but experts say his claims are not based on facts.

Marjan Linnell, a general pediatrician, countered during the committee hearing that puberty-blocking treatments are in fact completely reversible and have been in use for decades to delay early onset puberty.While hormone therapy and surgery may indeed be irreversible, Linnell said parents and children discuss the risks extensively with experts before undergoing treatment – and said treatment typically comes after puberty.

According to a 2021 study by the Fenway Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, only 13% of transgender people have detransitioned at some point. However, that number becomes even less significant when considering that about 82% of those who detransitioned did so due to external pressure and stigma – not because they regretted their decision.

Whether the bill will be passed or not is still unclear, and the senate is set to take their final vote on Wednesday.