The Kyrgyz parliament (Jokargi Keneshi) has approved a bill in its first reading banning medical gender reassignment procedures. According to the bill, gender reassignment surgery, hormonal therapy, and changing gender information in official documents may now be banned.
One of the initiators of the bill, MP Bolot Saginayev, said that the bill would restrict any medical interventions aimed at changing gender. An exception would also be made for cases involving congenital anomalies of sexual development. In such cases, changes to documents would be made only on the basis of a medical commission's conclusion and a court decision.
The parliamentarians described the bill as aimed at protecting traditional family values and closing a legal loophole that allowed changing documents based on existing medical certificates.
