Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed HB2310, imposing civil liability on adults who help minors obtain gender-affirming care

On June 3, 2024, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed HB2310/SB2782, enacted as Public Chapter 1064, creating a civil cause of action against any person who intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports an unemancipated minor within Tennessee for the purpose of receiving a "prohibited medical procedure" — gender-affirming care that the state had already banned for minors under a 2023 law. The measure took effect July 1, 2024. Sponsored by Sen. Janice Bowling in the Senate and Rep. Iris Richey in the House, it passed the General Assembly in April 2024.

Under the law, a minor or the minor's parents may sue an adult who helps the minor obtain such care for compensatory damages, and the liability reaches assistance connected to care obtained regardless of where the procedure ultimately takes place. The statute carves out exceptions for the minor's own parents or legal guardians, for adults acting with a parent's permission, and for common transportation carriers such as ride-share, bus, or airline operators. An earlier version of the bill had included a criminal penalty — a Class C felony for recruiting, harboring, or transporting a minor for a prohibited procedure — but the enacted version relies on civil liability.

Reported as a first-in-the-nation measure, the law targets third parties — adults other than parents or guardians — who help transgender youth access care. Bryan Davidson, a policy director at the ACLU of Tennessee, said the statute does not bar parents from helping their child obtain care out of state and characterized it as an effort to use intimidation to push families to self-censor.