As the controversies over transgender rights escalate, the US Supreme Court has permitted Idaho to enforce a ban on providing gender-transition treatment for minors.
The justices have temporarily halted a federal district court decision that had prevented Idaho from implementing the law nationwide pending further review. The ruling may only affect the two young girls who initiated a lawsuit challenging the ban, allowing them to continue receiving medical care. Idaho is seeking to appeal the decision while the ban remains in effect.
While some laws or policies restricting access to gender-transition treatments for minors are facing legal challenges, Idaho is one of about 23 states with such laws. The Supreme Court may soon consider a similar challenge brought by the Biden administration.
Idaho’s law prohibits more than 20 treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries for transgender minors. Violating the law could result in doctors and pharmacists facing prison sentences of up to ten years. The state argues that the legislation aims to protect minors from potentially risky and harmful medical interventions.
Critics argue that the law contradicts widely accepted medical guidelines for treating individuals with gender dysphoria, a condition characterized by distress due to a mismatch between one’s gender identity and birth-assigned sex.
In December, US District Judge Lynn Winmill ruled that the law likely infringed on parents’ rights to make healthcare decisions for their children. Winmill suggested that the law, by treating gender dysphoria differently from other health conditions, could violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador has focused on the procedural aspects of Winmill’s ruling at the Supreme Court, suggesting that the judge may have limited his decision to the two girls involved in the case rather than applying it broadly.
The two girls involved in the case, identified as Pam Poe and Jane Doe, are both currently receiving estrogen treatment, with one also undergoing puberty blockers, according to court documents filed by their lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union.
For inquiries about this article, contact Greg Stohr in Washington at [email protected].
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