DOJ sues Tennessee to reverse ban on transgender surgery, hormones for children
Breccan F. Thies
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The Department of Justice filed suit against Tennessee on Wednesday, challenging its ban on transgender surgeries and hormone therapy for children.
Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) signed the bill into law in March, which prohibits doctors from being able to prescribe drugs such as cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to persons under the age of 18. It also bans transgender surgeries for children and allows victims of the procedures to sue doctors and their parents for prescribing and performing or consenting to treatment.
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The lawsuit claims the law violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because it denies access to the drugs to “transgender youth … while allowing non-transgender minors to access the same or similar procedures.”
The Department of Justice claims the drugs and procedures are “medically necessary,” pointing to the recommendation by “major medical associations.” In response to the lawsuit, Lee said the law is about “protecting children from permanent, life-altering decisions” and vowed to challenge the lawsuit in court.
“Left unchallenged, it would prohibit transgender children from receiving healthcare that their medical providers and their parents have determined to be medically necessary,” Henry Leventis, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said in a statement. “In doing so, the law seeks to substitute the judgment of trained medical professionals and parents with that of elected officials and codifies discrimination against children who already face far too many obstacles.”
However, Elizabeth Lane, a spokeswoman for Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, challenged the premise that these treatments are “medically necessary,” saying last week that “mounting evidence has persuaded a growing number of countries that irreversible medical interventions are not appropriate for kids showing symptoms of gender dysphoria.”
There has been a movement away from so-called “gender-affirming care” in Western Europe, with countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and Finland highlighting significant concerns about the treatment model for children.
A study from medical advocacy group Do No Harm showed that, when compared to Europe, the United States is the most permissive country for the treatment model and has a heavy lobby from organizations such as the American Medical Association advocating it.
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The disparity between the U.S. and Western Europe has motivated Republicans to start challenging the “medically necessary” premise.
“No child should ever be put in the position of making a permanent, life-altering decision to disfigure their body in this way,” Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the bill’s primary sponsor, wrote in an op-ed arguing for the legislation. “They can’t possibly understand the future reality of what that means. Least of all, a child under distress because they’re experiencing gender confusion.”