HOUSE BILL 559

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

John Block and Rebecca Dow

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO CHILD CUSTODY; AMENDING THE NMSA 1978 TO PROHIBIT A COURT FROM CONSIDERING A PARENT'S AFFIRMATION OF THE PARENT'S CHILD'S GENDER IDENTITY FOR PURPOSES OF CUSTODY; PROHIBITING A COURT FROM DETERMINING CUSTODY OF A CHILD BASED ON CERTAIN PARENTAL DECISIONS RELATED TO THE CHILD'S GENDER IDENTITY OR GENDER AFFIRMATION; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 40-4-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1977, Chapter 172, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "40-4-9. STANDARDS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF CHILD CUSTODY--PROHIBITED CONSIDERATIONS--GENDER AFFIRMATION--GENDER IDENTITY--PROHIBITED DETERMINATIONS--DEFINITIONS--HEARING.--

          A. In any case in which a judgment or decree will be entered awarding the custody of a minor, the district court shall, if the minor is under the age of fourteen, determine custody in accordance with the best interests of the child. The court shall consider all relevant factors, including but not limited to:

                (1) the wishes of the child's parent or parents as to [his] the child's custody;

                (2) the wishes of the child as to [his] the child's custodian;

                (3) the interaction and interrelationship of the child with [his] the child's parents [his] and siblings and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interest;

                (4) the child's adjustment to [his] the child's home, school and community; and

                (5) the mental and physical health of all individuals involved.

          B. In awarding custody of a minor pursuant to Subsection A of this section, the court shall not:

                (1) consider a parent's gender affirmation of the parent's child's gender identity when the child's gender identity is incongruent with the child's sex;

                (2) consider a parent's decision to not affirm a child's gender identity or a parent's decision to not provide gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care for the parent's child; and

                (3) determine that a parent's decision not to provide gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care for the parent's child is:

                     (a) detrimental to the child's health, safety and welfare;

                     (b) an inadequate provision for the child's needs, care or nurturance consistent with the child's physical and psychological development;

                     (c) abuse, as defined in the Abuse and Neglect Act;

                     (d) a lack of a safe environment;

                     (e) inadequate provision of health care;

                     (f) inadequate guidance;

                     (g) a lack of moral fitness;

                     (h) a detrimental attitude toward the child;

                     (i) an inability for the parent to foster a positive, loving relationship with the child; or

                     (j) an inability for the parent to bond with the child.

          [B.] C. If the minor is fourteen years of age or older, the court shall consider the desires of the minor as to with whom [he] the minor wishes to live before awarding custody of [such] the minor.

          [C.] D. Whenever testimony is taken from the minor concerning [his] the minor's choice of custodian, the [court] judge shall hold a private hearing in [his] the judge's chambers. The judge shall have a court reporter in [his] the judge's chambers who shall transcribe the hearing; however, the court reporter shall not file a transcript unless an appeal is taken.

          E. As used in this section:

                (1) "gender affirmation" means acknowledgment,

acceptance or support, whether verbal, emotional, financial, physical or otherwise, of a person's self-defined gender identity. "Gender affirmation" includes:

                     (a) referring to a person by any pronouns other than those congruent with the person's sex; or

                     (b) facilitating access for a person to

gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care;

                (2) "gender-affirming health care" means medical care that is prescribed in support of and based on a patient's gender identity as defined by the patient and may include one or more of the following:

                     (a) guidance or treatment to foster social transitioning;

                     (b) interventions to suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics; or

                     (c) interventions to align the patient's

appearance or physical body with the patient's self-defined gender identity;

                (3) "gender-affirming mental health care" means a mental health care or behavioral health care approach or treatment based on the gender identity of a patient, as defined by the patient, and may include developmental exploration and integration of identity or adaptive coping and strategies to induce family or social acceptance of the patient's gender identity;

                (4) "gender identity" means a person's self-defined, internal sense of that person's gender, self-image, appearance, behavior or expression, which may be different from the person's sex and which may be male, female, neither or a combination; and

                (5) "sex" means the biological indication of male or female in the context of reproductive capacity, including sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads and unambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth and including secondary sex characteristics without regard to a person's psychological, chosen or subjective experience of gender."

     SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2025.

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