Alabama Trans Healthcare Ban Dispute

Alabama families are challenging the state’s ban on medical care for their transgender children & have asked the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to review a panel ruling. Shannon Minter, Legal Director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights stated, “Our clients & other Alabama families have a right to protect their transgender children & ensure they get the support they need. The panel’s decision tramples on that right & conflicts with clearly established Supreme Court & 11th Circuit law. We hope the full court will review this case & prevent this devastating criminal ban from taking effect.” Scott McCoy, Deputy Legal Director for LGBTQ Rights & Special Litigation at Southern Poverty Law Center added, “Allowing SB 184 to take effect would serve no purpose other than preventing parents from obtaining the medical care their children need. Every federal district court that has heard the evidence presented has come to the same conclusion: the established medical treatments recommended for transgender adolescents are safe, effective & lifesaving for some youth & there is no legitimate reason to ban them.” Sarah Warbelow, Legal Director at Human Rights Campaign concluded, “Parents, not the government, are best situated to make medical decisions for their children. That understanding is deeply rooted in our common understanding & our legal foundations. Allowing this ban to take effect would be a shocking reversal of firmly established precedent & a jarring intrusion into private family decisions.” The Alabama law likely violates the federal Equal Protection Clause & also violates parents’ fundamental right to make medical decisions for their children.

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