Texas' new law prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors has been challenged in state court by a group of families and medical professionals who claim it violates parental rights and discriminates against transgender teenagers.
At least 20 states have passed legislation outlawing certain gender-affirming practices in child care. Half of the laws are not in force, either because they were passed so recently that they haven't yet taken effect or because enforcement has been suspended by courts in Arkansas, Indiana, and Kentucky, according to The Associated Press.
New Restrictions to Transgender Healthcare
AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 27: Demonstrators rally against a counter-protester while protesting bills HB 1686 and SB 14 during a 'Fight For Our Lives' rally at the Texas State Capitol on March 27, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Community members and activists gathered at the Capitol to protest the bills, which seek to limit healthcare to transgender youth.
The Tennessee ban was similarly halted by a judge in June, but this month's decision by an appeals court allowed it to go into effect at least temporarily.
A statute signed by Governor Greg Abbott in June and scheduled to go into effect on September 1 is the subject of a Texas lawsuit filed on Wednesday. According to the lawsuit, the restriction will have terrible effects on transgender teenagers in Texas since they won't be able to get the life-saving care that their doctors and parents have advised.
The Texas law would bar youngsters who identify as transgender from receiving hormone treatments, puberty inhibitors, or transition surgeries, despite the fact that such surgeries are infrequently performed on children, according to medical professionals.
All children who have already begun receiving such care must be weaned off in a "medically appropriate" way. Many transgender teenagers may "face the whiplash of losing their essential medical care and experiencing unwanted and unbearable changes to their body," the complaint claims.
In the complaint, Roberts, who has provided care to more than 200 young people who identify as gender nonconforming or transgender as well as their families, expressed his concern that he and his colleagues may have to decide between upholding their medical oaths and upholding the state's new law.
Families of transgender children are being compelled to go out of state more frequently to access the care they require as more states try to enforce bans.
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Opposition Against the Proposed Prohibitions
The American Medical Association and every other significant medical organization have opposed the prohibitions and supported the provision of adequate medical treatment for children. Gender-affirming care opponents claim there is no concrete evidence of the alleged benefits, reference widely refuted research, and argue that youngsters shouldn't make life-altering decisions that they may come to regret.
Abbott was the first governor to appoint an investigation into families receiving care last year. A Texas judge ultimately ordered an end to the probes.
In January, when lawmakers reconvened in Austin for the state's biennial legislative session, they drafted SB 14, which established a legal prohibition on transgender care for children.
One of the most contentious issues in this year's Texas legislative session was the restriction on transgender health care. State police were forced to order protesters to leave the Texas House after transgender rights advocates disrupted it with demonstrations from the chamber gallery.
For offering these services, children's hospitals across the nation have experienced intimidation and violence threats. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been suspended and will be tried by the Senate for corruption and abuse of office in September, had previously launched an investigation into the treatment of transgender patients at an Austin hospital.
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