The Oregon Health Authority recently released new standards for School-Based Health Centers (SBHC) that would embed certain medical and behavioral therapies into the public school system.
Under Section D.2 of the new standards, SBHCs must:
- Ensure all students in the school are eligible for services.
- Accept the consent of a minor who may lawfully consent under Oregon law (including ORS 109.640 and ORS 109.675).
- Not deny services to a minor who has lawfully consented, even if a parent or guardian has failed to consent or has explicitly denied consent.
This is a dangerous step in the Oregon school system that is both detrimental to our youth and a magnet for lawsuits.
We do not say this lightly. Instead, it has been demonstrated multiple times recently.
- Fox Varian is a detransitioner who was awarded $2 million by a New York jury in February 2026 for malpractice. At 16 years old, she received a double mastectomy. The jury found there was a failure to obtain meaningful informed consent from a minor.
- Also in February 2026, the American Medical Association made a significant move in how we approach gender dysphoria. They declared that gender-affirming surgical interventions should be postponed to adulthood, citing insufficient evidence.
- A few mothers later, in May of 2026, Texas Children’s Hospital was made to pay over $10 million, while also agreeing to stop providing puberty blockers and establishing a detransition clinic.
- The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has also spoken out. Their position recommends all gender-related breast, chest, genital, and facial surgeries be delayed until the patient is at least 19 years old. They cite low certainty evidence and potential long term harms.
In light of these four significant developments in the first half of 2026, we want to urge you to take action against these SBHC standards in Oregon.
You can have your voice heard in any of the following ways:
- Contact the Oregon Department of Education,
- Contact the Oregon Health Authority,
- And/or contact your state legislator.
Ask them to remove the transgender requirements for School Based Health Clinics from the 2025 OHA SBHC Version 5 rulemaking.
These significant events underscore the importance of protecting minors from interventions they may not be fully equipped to consent to. School-Based Health Clinics serving students should align with this emerging medical consensus rather than facilitate earlier access to these procedures and services.
We ask that you take action against these standards. Contact ODE, OHA, and/or your state legislators. If you want to go one step further, join CSBO to have your voice heard in the fight for our state’s youth.