A lawsuit brought about by Texas families and medical providers aims to block a bill that bans gender-affirming procedures for minors, arguing it violates parental rights and discriminates against transgender teens.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Travis County, legal representatives announced. It seeks a temporary injunction to block Senate Bill 14 which was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June and is set to go into effect on Sept. 1. The Associated Press said they reached out to Abbott's office but he has not responded.
SB14 bans transition-related care for transgender minors. This includes treatment for gender transitioning and gender reassignment. Various surgeries and medical prescriptions, such as hormone therapies and puberty blockers, are also detailed in the bill.
Texas children who already started such care are required to be weaned off in a "medically appropriate" manner.
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Behind the lawsuit are five Texas families, three medical professionals, and two organizations that represent various people across the state.
The families have transgender children between the ages of 9 and 16, who cite irreparable harm if the bill goes into effect. Concerns stem from mental health to bodily autonomy.
"As a parent, I don't want to see my child suffer and don't understand why the state government would try to strip away my ability to seek the best possible health care for my child," said Lazaro Loe, father of a transgender girl, in a statement. "If SB14 goes into effect and Luna loses access to this health care, I am deeply concerned about the anxiety, depression, and suicidality that she will face. Her happiness, health, autonomy, and independence would be stripped away by this cruel legislation; and we likely would be forced to leave our home here in Texas."
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The lawsuit argues that the ban will have devastating consequences for transgender teens in Texas, who they say will be unable to obtain critical medical treatment recommended by their physicians and parents.
According to the lawsuit, many transgender teens will "face the whiplash of losing their necessary medical treatment and experiencing unwanted and unbearable changes to their body."
"I am gravely concerned about my patient's ability to survive, much less thrive if SB 14 takes effect," Richard Ogden Roberts, a doctor who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said on behalf of himself and his patients.
Roberts, who has cared for over 200 gender-diverse and transgender young patients and their families, said in the lawsuit he and his colleagues worry they will be forced to choose between upholding their medical oaths or upholding the state's new law.
As more states have moved to enforce bans, families of transgender youth are increasingly forced to travel out of state for the care they need.
Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans and supported medical care for youth when administered appropriately. Opponents of gender-affirming care say there's no solid proof of purported benefits, cite widely discredited research and say children shouldn't make life-altering decisions they might later regret.
Similar lawsuits have surfaced across various states in the U.S., which also have bills that seek to ban gender-affirming care.
There are 20 states that have adopted laws banning youth gender-affirming care, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The Associated Press reports half of those laws are not in effect, either because they were passed so recently that they haven't yet kicked in or, in the case of Arkansas, Indiana and Kentucky, because enforcement has been put on hold by courts.
A judge in June also blocked enforcement of Tennessee's ban, but an appeals court this month said it can take effect for now, at least.
Last year, Abbott became the first governor to order the investigation of families who were receiving care. The investigations were later halted by a Texas judge.
When legislators returned to Austin in January for the state's biennial legislative session, they created SB 14, which codified a ban on transgender care for minors into law.
The transgender care ban was one of the most divisive issues of this year's Texas legislative session. Transgender rights activists disrupted the Texas House with protests from the chamber gallery, which led to state police forcing demonstrators to move outside the building.
Children's hospitals around the country have faced harassment and threats of violence for providing such care. Suspended Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces a Senate impeachment trial in September on allegations of corruption and misuse of office, had previously opened investigations into transgender care at an Austin hospital.
