Legislation

Puerto Rico Governor Signs Ban on Trans Youth Treatments

JUL 17 2025·Updated JUL 18 2025

Story

Above: A person takes part in the Puerto Rico Pride Parade in San Juan on June 4, 2023. Image credit: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

The Facts

Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González-Colón signed legislation banning gender-transition treatments for youth under 21, aligning the U.S. territory with roughly two dozen U.S. states that have enacted similar laws.
LGBTQ Nation
NBC
El Nuevo Día
The law, approved late Wednesday, imposes penalties of up to 15 years in prison and $50,000 fines on medical professionals who provide hormone therapy or gender-transition surgeries to minors, along with license revocation.
LGBTQ Nation
NBC
X
The Associated Press
Both chambers of Puerto Rico's legislature approved the bill despite opposition from medical associations representing physicians, surgeons, psychologists, and other professionals who urged the governor to veto it.
Advocate.com
NBC
X
The Puerto Rico LGBTQ+ Federation has announced plans to challenge the law's constitutionality in court.
LGBTQ Nation
NBC
Unlike mainland U.S. residents, transgender Puerto Ricans cannot travel to neighboring states for alternative care if local services are banned.
LGBTQ Nation
GLAAD
The legislation follows a broader national trend, with hundreds of bills targeting transgender youth's access to gender-transition treatments introduced across the country, reportedly affecting an estimated 120,400 of the nation's more than 300,000 high school aged transgender youth.
Advocate.com
HRC

Sources Split

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ESTAB

The Spin

Right narrative

This law protects vulnerable minors who lack the emotional and cognitive maturity to make irreversible medical decisions. The state must safeguard children's comprehensive well-being when they cannot fully understand the long-term consequences.

National Post

Left narrative

Banning this care strips parents' rights to make medical decisions for their families and criminalizes health care professionals for providing medically necessary treatment. Every major medical association supports gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

GLAAD

Metaculus Prediction

Editor's Note

This story currently has limited coverage. We will continue to monitor all major outlets and update our reporting as additional information becomes available.