Texas Supreme Court
Legal advocates representing transgender adolescents, their parents and medical providers argued before the Texas Supreme Court today (Tuesday, Jan 30) asking the court to affirm a lower court’s temporary injunction blocking enforcement of Senate Bill 14.
In a press release, the ACLU called SB 14 “an unconstitutional medical care ban targeting transgender youth.”
SB 14, which went into effect Sept. 1, 2023, bans treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone treatments. The ACLU described such care as “necessary and life-saving medical care … for the treatment of gender dysphoria for transgender youth.”
The law requires the Texas Medical Board to revoke the medical licenses of physicians who provide that standard care to their trans patients.
Attorneys arguing the case are from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, ACLU, Transgender Law Center, Lambda Legal, and pro bono law firms Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP. They argued that Senate Bill 14 violates the Texas Constitution by depriving parents of their fundamental right to make medical decisions for their children, discriminating against transgender youth on the basis of sex and transgender status, and violating medical professionals’ right to practice their professions.
In July 2023, families and health professionals sued the state of Texas and other state defendants to block Senate Bill 14 from going into effect. In August, Judge Maria Cantú Hexsel of Travis County granted a temporary injunction to pause implementation and enforcement of the ban. Texas appealed directly to the Supreme Court of Texas, and the law went into effect on Sept. 1.
The five Texas families with transgender children and teenagers challenging this law come from diverse backgrounds and live across the state. The bill’s passage has resulted in families splitting up or planning to leave Texas to continue treatment for their children. The families are suing under pseudonyms to protect themselves and their children, who are transgender Texans between the ages of 9 and 16.
The other plaintiffs include PFLAG National, the nation’s first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ people and those who love them. Plaintiff GLMA is the oldest and largest association of LGBTQ and allied health professionals, including those who treat LGBTQ patients.
— David Taffet
