Texas Ban On Transition-related Care For Transgender Youth To Go Into Effect Despite Ongoing Legal Battle

After the state attorney general's office sued to overturn a judge's temporary injunction, a Texas legislation prohibiting transgender youth from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy will go into effect next week.

State district court Judge Maria Cant Hexsel stated in her decision on Friday that Senate Bill 14 "interferes with Texas families' private decisions and strips Texas parents... of the right to seek, direct, and provide medical care for their children."

In response, the attorney general's office filed an appeal with the Texas Supreme Court, effectively halting Cant Hexsel's order and allowing the law to take effect on Friday.

In a statement announcing the request Friday evening, the attorney general's office stated that such medical therapies are "unproven" and "pushed by some activists in the medical and psychiatric professions."

During this year's regular legislative session, Texas lawmakers enacted SB 14 and many other pieces of legislation affecting the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Despite Ongoing Legal Battle, Texas Ban On Trans Youth Therapy To Go Into Effect

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The judge indicated that the lawsuit was likely to win. She agreed with the plaintiffs that SB 14 was unconstitutional because it violated parents' rights to make decisions about their children, violated doctors' freedom to practise medicine, and discriminated against transgender adolescents by denying them health care.

"This Act was passed because of, not despite, its impact on transgender adolescents, depriving them of necessary, safe, and effective medical treatment," wrote the judge.

Medical experts testified last week about the effectiveness of transition-related care in treating mental health issues associated with gender dysphoria ¨C a medical term for the distress someone feels when their gender identity does not match their body.

Rechecking Existing Data

Defence attorneys enlisted the help of doctors and other experts to refute existing data supporting the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy on transgender adolescents with gender dysphoria.

They contended that the hazards of these medications and transition-related operations, which are rarely performed on children, outweighed the advantages. There is little dispute over the use of these medicines in the greater medical community.

The American Academy of Paediatrics and the American Medical Association, among others, endorse using transition-related care for people under 18.

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Before the attorney general's office appealed Cant Hexsel's verdict, Alex Sheldon, executive director of GLMA, an association of LGBTQ+ health professionals that is one of the plaintiffs, praised it.

"This ruling stands as a testament to Texas families' unwavering dedication and the medical expertise of GLMA's health professional members, who have clearly demonstrated with each testimony that gender-affirming care is evidence-based, life-saving care."

Sheldon said in a statement Friday, "Although this was only one battle among many, we remain committed to fighting for the rights of trans youth and health care providers providing gender-affirming care in Texas and across the country."

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Texas lawmakers have joined 19 other states in attempting to prohibit transitional care. According to an April poll by the Texas Politics Project, more than 85% of Republican voters in Texas support some restrictions on it.

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