A group of physicians and patients filed a lawsuit Monday, challenging an Alabama law that criminalizes the provision of gender-affirming healthcare to children, legal documents show.
Morissa Ladinsky, MD, and Hussein Abdul-Latif, MD, physicians at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham, both of whom provide care to transgender patients, as well as two patients and their families, sued state officials in an attempt to overturn The Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, which was signed into law on April 8.
The law makes it a felony — punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years or a fine of up to $15,000 — for clinicians to provide gender-affirming care to transgender kids, including the administration of medications such as puberty blockers or hormone therapies, as well as surgical procedures. Additionally, it makes it illegal for parents to consent to these treatments. Barring any legal challenges, the new bill will go into effect on May 8.
“I believe very strongly that if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl,” said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) in a statement Friday, according to The Hill. “We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life.”
The lawsuit names Ivey, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, and two other officials as defendants in the case.
Ladinsky said in a statement that Ivey “has told kind, loving, and loyal Alabama families that they cannot stay here without denying their children the basic medical care they need.”
“She has undermined the health and well-being of Alabama children and put doctors like me in the horrifying position of choosing between ignoring the medical needs of our patients or risking being sent to prison,” Ladinsky stated.
Medical and mental health organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, the Endocrine Society, and several others follow standards of care for the treatment of gender dysphoria released by the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, the complaint stated.
Ladinsky and Abdul-Latif filed the suit with two patients, referred to in the lawsuit as John Doe, a 17-year-old transgender boy, and Mary Roe, a 13-year-old transgender girl. If this law goes into effect, both patients will no longer be able to legally access gender-affirming medications and surgeries — disruptions that will result in “severe psychological distress and irreversible physical changes to their bodies that will result in long-lasting damage to their health,” the complaint stated.
The plaintiffs said that this law “abandons science and seeks to stop safe, effective, and medically necessary treatments for children with gender dysphoria in Alabama without any rational basis.” They also said that it ignores the evidence that transgender patients who do not receive gender-affirming care suffer consequences to their physical and mental health.
While the law makes it illegal for doctors to prescribe medications and treatments for gender dysphoria, it places no restriction on these medications when prescribed for other medically necessary reasons, the complaint stated. For example, an endocrinologist would still be permitted to prescribe puberty blockers for a patient with early puberty, but not for a child with gender dysphoria.
“By so doing, the Act singles out and prohibits treatment when it is necessary for a transgender person’s medical care while allowing the same treatment when it is necessary for a non-transgender person,” the complaint stated, alleging discrimination against patients based on their sex and transgender status.
In addition to this lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Alabama, Lambda Legal, Transgender Law Center, and Cooley LLP announced plans last week to challenge the ban on transgender youth healthcare in Alabama.
Source: MedicalNewsToday.com
