NASHVILLE, Tenn. (NEWSnet/AP) — Tennessee's GOP-controlled Statehouse on Thursday gave their approval to legislation penalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent.

The bill now goes to Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his signature.

The bill mirrors an anti-abortion effort Tennessee Republican lawmakers approved a day earlier. In that legislation, supporters are hoping to stop adults from helping young people obtain abortions without permission from their parents or guardians.

Lee, a Republican, hasn't publicly commented on either bill, but supporters are confident he will sign them into law.

While the Republican supermajority touted the proposed statutes as necessary to protect parental rights, critics warned about the possible broad application. Violations could range from talking to an adolescent about a website on where to find care to helping that young person travel to another state with looser restrictions on gender-affirming care services.

The original bill included criminal penalties, but supporters agreed to civil penalties for violators.

“This is a parent’s rights bill, nothing more, nothing less,” Republican Rep. Bryan Richey, the bill's sponsor, said during House debate earlier this week. “At the end of the day, parents should have final say what medical procedures their children are receiving, and nobody else.”

To date, no state has placed restrictions on helping young people receive gender-affirming care, despite the recent push among more than 20 Republican-led states — including Tennessee — to ban such care for most minors.

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