Current:Home > ScamsMontana judge blocks enforcement of law to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Montana judge blocks enforcement of law to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors
View Date:2024-12-23 21:01:23
HELENA, Mont. (AP) —
A Montana law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors is temporarily blocked, a state judge ruled Wednesday, just four days before it was to take effect.
District Court Judge Jason Marks agreed with transgender youth, their families and healthcare providers that a law passed by the 2023 Montana Legislature is likely unconstitutional and would harm the mental and physical health of minors with gender dysphoria.
The preliminary injunction blocking the law will remain in effect until a full trial can be held on the issue, but Marks has said he expects his decision will be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.
“Today’s ruling permits our clients to breath a sigh of relief,” Akilah Deernose, executive director of the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement. “But this fight is far from over. We look forward to vindicating our clients’ constitutional rights and ensuring that this hateful law never takes effect.”
Montana is one of at least 22 states that have enacted bans on gender-affirming medical care for minors and most face lawsuits. Some bans have been temporarily blocked by courts, while others have been allowed to take effect.
All the laws ban gender-affirming surgery for minors. Such procedures are rare, with fewer than 3,700 performed in the U.S. on patients ages 12 to 18 from 2016 through 2019, according to a study published last month. It’s not clear how many of those patients were 18 when they underwent surgery.
In Montana’s case, transgender youth argued the law would ban them from continuing to receive gender-affirming medical care, violating their constitutional rights to equal protection, the right to seek health and the right to dignity.
Their parents said the law would violate their constitutional rights to make medical decisions for their children and two medical providers said it would prevent them from providing effective and necessary care to their patients.
“Montana’s ban is a direct assault on the freedom and well-being of transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers,” Malita Picasso, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberty Union, said in a recent statement.
The law sought to prohibit the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria, while still allowing cisgender minors to receive puberty blockers to treat early puberty or surgical procedures to treat intersex conditions.
Treatments for gender dysphoria meet standards of care approved by major medical organizations including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the ACLU argued in its complaint.
Allowing the ban to take effect would cause irreparable harm to transgender minors who are receiving treatment, in part by exacerbating the anxiety and depression they feel because their body is incongruent with their gender identity, Picasso argued during a Sept. 18 hearing for the preliminary injunction.
The state countered that beginning the treatments put transgender children on a “path of no return.”
“A child cannot possibly consent to the treatment that permanently and irreversibly changes secondary sex characteristics, nor can a child consent to future infertility and sterilization, future sexual dysfunction and a lifetime of hormone treatments and other forms of medicalization and resulting complications,” Assistant Attorney General Russell argued.
___
The story has been corrected to show the ruling happed on Wednesday, not Tuesday; and corrected to show the order is a preliminary injunction, not a temporary restraining order
veryGood! (4243)
Related
- Mike Tomlin's widely questioned QB switch to Russell Wilson has quieted Steelers' critics
- Historic ballpark featured in 'A League of Their Own' burns to the ground in Southern California
- US appeals court clears way for Florida ban on transgender care for minors
- Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for 2020 Democratic nomination, endorses Trump against former foe Harris
- Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger welcome their first son together
- Mariah Carey Shares Mom Patricia and Sister Alison Recently Died on Same Day
- 'I look really soft': Caitlin Clark brushes off slight ankle injury in Fever win vs. Dream
- Karen Read now faces civil suit as well as murder charge in police officer boyfriend’s death
- Democrat George Whitesides wins election to US House, beating incumbent Mike Garcia
- Quentin Tarantino argues Alec Baldwin is partly responsible for 'Rust' shooting
Ranking
- Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
- Alabama man shot by police during domestic violence call
- Karen Read now faces civil suit as well as murder charge in police officer boyfriend’s death
- Robert Griffin III: 'Just really thankful' for time at ESPN after firing
- Advocates Expect Maryland to Drive Climate Action When Trump Returns to Washington
- BMW, Tesla among 743,000 vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
- Embrace the smoke, and other tips for grilling vegetables at a Labor Day barbecue
- Newest internet villain? Man files trademark for Jools Lebron's 'very mindful, very demure'
Recommendation
-
A wayward sea turtle wound up in the Netherlands. A rescue brought it thousands of miles back home
-
Socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein Shares Photo From Before Her Cosmetic “Catwoman” Transformation
-
America's Got Talent Alum Grace VanderWaal Is All Grown Up in Rare Life Update
-
Bradley Whitford criticizes Cheryl Hines for being 'silent' as RFK Jr. backs Donald Trump
-
California voters reject measure that would have banned forced prison labor
-
West Virginia middle school student dies after sustaining injury during football practice
-
Maine workers make progress in cleanup of spilled firefighting foam at former Navy base
-
Mariah Carey says her mom and sister died on the same day