Texas senators heard testimony on a measure requiring birth certificates to only display a person’s sex at birth.
The item was considered alongside other unrelated measures on Monday before the Senate Committee on State Affairs.
Senate Bill 406, filed by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), would require that birth certificates display individuals’ birth sex and prohibit an individual from changing their sex on birth certificates in most cases.
Exceptions that would allow birth certificates to be changed include a “clerical error” on the original certificate or intersex individuals “who at birth had atypical or ambiguous sex organs, chromosomes, or endogenous profile.”
Middleton told State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) that SB 406 would affect not only birth certificates but also any form of state identification that requires a birth certificate for approval, like a driver’s license.
“Or any other state license [i.e. concealed carry permit, hunting license] where you have to produce either your driver’s license or birth certificate, this bill is going to require that your at-birth sex is what’s on those state documents,” said Middleton.
Hall followed up by emphasizing the measure’s importance and noting instances where Texas Health and Human Services has been “sending requests to counties to change birth certificates.”
“This would put an end to that crazy practice,” said Hall.
In late January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order defining two sexes—male and female—and requiring that individuals’ “government-issued identification documents” align with their biological sex.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a directive shortly after to accompany Trump’s, ordering state agency heads to “ensure that agency rules, internal policies, employment practices, and other actions comply with the law.”
During testimony, pediatric nurse Vanessa Sivadge shared her experience with radical gender ideology being taught and practiced at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Sivadge was fired last year by the hospital after accusing it of billing gender mutilating procedures to Medicaid.
“I blew the whistle to reveal how Texas Children’s Hospital had not only lied about the existence of their transgender program but were actively, illegally using Texas Medicaid funds to cover irreversible gender transition procedures for minors,” said Sivadge, now the founder and president of Protecting Texas Children.
“One of the ways that the hospital concealed their illegal billing of hormones to Medicaid was through this loophole in Texas law that allowed anyone to change their sex on their birth certificate,” she added.
If proven accurate, Sivadge’s allegations mean Texas Children’s Hospital was in direct violation of SB 14, a state law passed in 2023 that prohibits those procedures from being performed on minors.
The matter is currently being investigated by the office of the Texas attorney general and the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Megan Benton, a strategic policy associate for Texas Values, said her organization supports SB 406 and believes it is “a matter of public safety and public record.”
“With a government identification card that contains inaccurate information about a person’s sex, the door is wide open for criminal activity and unfairness,” said Benton. “For example, a biological male may be able to access women’s facilities while women are using them.”
The measure was left pending in committee until further notice at the hearing’s conclusion.
Hughes also announced, while wrapping up the hearing, that State Affairs may begin voting “over the next couple of days” on measures currently pending in committee.
Two of those measures awaiting a vote would strengthen religious protections by allowing teachers to pray while on duty and permitting them to correctly gender students without repercussion.
