The American Medical Association has adopted a new policy supporting the elimination of requirements for sex reassignment surgery in order to change the sex listing on a birth certificate. The new policy was adopted at the first business meeting of the organization's House of Delegates at the AMA's Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Only a few states allow changes on birth certificates based on "clinically appropriate treatment" rather than a "surgical procedure". And a few states do not allow changing the sex listed on a birth certificate under any circumstances.
Surgery shouldn't be a requirement to align a person's gender identity with their birth certificate. State laws must acknowledge that the correct course of treatment for any given individual is a decision that rests with the patient and their physician.
--outgoing AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven, M.D
AMA delegates rejected gender affirmation surgery as the guiding requirement because it is "inconsistent with current medical standards." Delegates also included a statement that
...any change of sex determination on an individual's birth certificate must not hinder access to medically appropriate preventive care.
Depending on what gender is recorded in these records, certain treatments, screening and procedures may be disallowed, despite the fact that best medical practices require adequate screening and treatment of a person, regardless of the person's gender identity or gender transition. The AMA seeks to ensure that transgender patients always receive appropriate preventive care regardless of whether or not it matches with the gender on the birth certificate.
--Dr. Hoven
A few days ago the state of New York became just the sixth state to
allow transgender people to update birth certificates without proof of surgery.
The new policy states...
Birth certificates are primarily used for legal matters, not medical. Requiring sex-reassignment surgery places a burden on an already marginalized population.
The nation's preeminent medical authority supports the abolition of surgical requirements in an effort to ensure accurate gender markers on birth certificates.
The AMA is of course generally more progressive than actual public policy as set by legislators and the court. The AMA action follows by a week a
similar policy announced by the World Health Organization.
The AMA’s support for eliminating surgery requirements to update their birth certificate will send a strong message to states that lag behind on these policies. Currently only five states and the District of Columbia have modernized their policies to make it clear that surgery is not required to update a birth certificate.
Transgender people should not be required to have any specific, costly medical treatments in order to carry the accurate and consistent ID we all need to function every day in the United States.
--Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality
An effort to refer the issue for further study failed when it got just 48% of the vote of the delegates.
In the past year North Carolina and Virginia adopted rules that said students could only play on gender-segregated sports team which match their birth certificates...which effectively denies transgender students the opportunity to compete since major surgery such as this is not performed on minors.