A federal judge has blocked the implementation of a Kentucky law that prohibited people younger than 18 from receiving transgender-specific medical services, saying that it was in violation of Constitutional rights. U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Judge David Hale Judge David Hale of the U.S. District Court ruled Kentucky Senate Bill 150, which bans cross-sex hormone treatments and sex-reassignment surgery for minors and limits bathroom usage by biological sex, is illegal because “regardless of its stated purpose” the law “would have the effect of enforcing gender conformity.”
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky has ruled that medical treatments and drugs that are regulated under SB 150 are commonly used by children who are transitioning and are endorsed as such by “all major medical organizations” across the nation. All major medical organizations, comprising those of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association, supports the medical treatment of minors who are transgender.
“These drugs have a long history of safe use in minors for various conditions. It is undisputed that puberty-blockers and hormones are not given to prepubertal children with gender dysphoria,” Hale declared.
SB 150 also bans instruction regarding sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
Republican supermajorities in both chambers voted to pass the bill and signed it into law last month, after they overruled Democratic Governor. Andy Beshear’s decision to block it.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky as well as others LGBTQ+ advocacy groups joined several minors and their parents in a fight to overturn the law in the courts in protest that the denial of transgender medical treatment to trans teens adversely affects their health and raises the chance of suicide.
The court agreed with the plaintiffs and stated that the denial of sex-reassignment surgery would have serious consequences, including “severe psychological distress and the need to move out of state.”
The court clarified its ruling “will not result in any child being forced to take puberty-blockers or hormones; rather, the treatments will continue to be limited to those patients whose parents and healthcare providers decide, in accordance with the applicable standard of care, that such treatment is appropriate.”
Corey Shapiro, ACLU-KY’s legal director, applauded the decision but said it was only a “first step” in securing transitioning medical treatments in the Republican-controlled legislature.
“This is a win, but it is only the first step. We’re prepared to fight for families’ right to make their own private medical decisions in court, and to continue doing everything in our power to ensure access to medical care is permanently secured in Kentucky,” Shapiro stated.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron criticized the District Court’s decision.
“Senate Bill 150 is a commonsense law that protects Kentucky children from unnecessary medical experimentation with powerful drugs and hormone treatments,” Cameron stated according to CBS News. “There is nothing ‘affirming’ about this dangerous approach to mental health, and my office will continue to do everything in our power to defend this law passed by our elected representatives.”
In the United States, at least 11 states have passed laws that restrict or ban medical procedures for minors that are transgender which include Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and West Virginia.
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-strikes-down-kentuckys-ban-sex-reassignment-surgeries-cross-sex-hormone-therapies