The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state’s ban on sex-reassignment treatments for children, allowing the state to remain one of at least 25 states and the largest to have restrictions on such treatments.
The law, which takes effect on September 1, 2023, bans children under the age of 18 from undergoing hormone therapy, puberty blockers, or sex-reassignment surgery. Children already taking these drugs must have their medication gradually tapered off. The law also includes exceptions for children who experience early puberty or have a “medically provable genetic disorder of sex differentiation.”
Lawsuits challenging the law argued that it would disadvantage transgender teenagers who would be unable to access gender-change treatment recommended by their doctors or parents. Associated Press.
The all-Republican court ruled 8-1.
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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state’s ban on sex-reassignment treatments for children. (Associated Press)
“Given particularly the relative infancy of gender dysphoria and its various treatments, and the Legislature’s clear constitutional authority to regulate medical practice, we conclude that the Legislature made a permissible and reasonable policy choice to limit the types of medical procedures available to children,” Judge Rebecca Aizpur-Hadl wrote.
The lone dissenting justice said the court had given states the power to “legally deprive people of fundamental parental rights.”
“The state’s clear statutory prohibition prevents these parents and many others from working with doctors to develop individualized treatment plans for their children, even those whose lives could be saved by such treatment,” Judge Debra Lerman wrote. “This law is not only cruel, it is unconstitutional.”
Lower courts have ruled the law unconstitutional but allowed it to go into effect while the state Supreme Court considers the case.
After the ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, tweeted that he would “take every step to ensure that doctors and healthcare organizations comply with the law.”
The law prohibits children under the age of 18 from receiving hormone therapy, puberty suppression drugs, or gender-transition surgery. (Fox News)
The groups that filed the lawsuit criticized the ruling as harmful to transgender children and their families.
“It is difficult to overstate the devastating impact this ruling has had on transgender young people in Texas and the families who love and support them,” Karen Lowy, senior counsel and constitutional director for Lambda Legal, one of the groups that sued the state on behalf of the doctors and families, told The Associated Press.
Ash Hall, LGBTQIA+ rights policy and advocacy strategist at the ACLU of Texas, said the government “should not deprive transgender young people of the health care they need to survive and thrive,” adding that Texas politicians’ “obsession with attacking transgender children and their families is unnecessarily cruel.”
Gender reassignment treatment for transgender children is supported by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and the Endocrine Society.
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Lawsuits challenging the law argued that it would disadvantage transgender teens who would be unable to receive gender-change treatment recommended by their doctors or parents. (Alison Diner/AFP via Getty Images)
One of the justices rejected the position, saying the medical groups’ position was irrelevant to whether the Texas law was constitutional.
“The fact that expert witnesses and influential interest groups such as the American Psychiatric Association disagree with the Legislature’s decision is entirely irrelevant to the constitutional issue,” Judge James Blacklock wrote in a concurring opinion. “The Texas Constitution gives the Legislature the power to regulate ‘health care practitioners.'”
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During the lower court hearing, several doctors who treat transgender children testified that being denied gender reassignment treatment could lead to patients’ mental health deteriorating and even suicide.
Texas officials said the law is necessary to protect children, and pointed to several other restrictions aimed at keeping minors safe, including on tattoos, alcohol, tobacco and certain over-the-counter drugs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
