Utah Gov. Cox signed HB 174, permanently banning hormone therapy for transgender minors

On March 18, 2026, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed House Bill 174, the "Sex Characteristic Change Treatment Amendments," making permanent a ban on hormone therapy for transgender minors that had previously existed as a temporary moratorium under a 2023 law (SB16). The measure bars health-care providers from initiating hormone treatment for minors and requires most minors currently receiving such care to taper off, with providers who violate the ban facing unprofessional-conduct findings and possible loss of licensure. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Rex Shipp and carried in the Senate by Sen. Dan McCay, and passed both chambers of the Utah Legislature by supermajorities.

Under the enacted law, which took effect in May 2026, most minors already on hormone therapy must discontinue treatment within roughly six months, by early November 2026, though a narrow exception allows certain adolescents aged 16 or older who had been in treatment for at least two years to continue. The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and other civil-liberties groups opposed the bill, and lawmakers advanced it even after the Legislature's own commissioned review of youth transgender care. The law places Utah among the states that have moved from restricting to categorically prohibiting gender-affirming hormone care for minors.