Tennessee, along with 24 other states, filed amicus briefs in two separate cases defending President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) stopping federal agencies from funding gender transition treatments for minors.
In January, Trump issued the “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” EO, which is an attempt to shield minors from making irreversible medical decisions.
However, this executive order was blocked by two separate judges. In February, a district court judge in Washington issued a preliminary injunction on the EO, stating it unconstitutionally restricted federal funding of these types of treatments.
A month later, a Maryland district court judge also issued a preliminary injunction, saying it was unconstitutional because it discriminated against transgender individuals.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who is leading this coalition, said “common sense and constitutional principles are under constant assault” from “radical leftists groups like the ACLU.”
He stated these groups are asking “federal courts to force taxpayers to fund sex-change procedures on children—an unconscionable demand that ignores overwhelming medical, legal, and moral concerns.”
ACLU is representing the plaintiffs in the Maryland case.
“Even as global medical authorities urge caution, and public opinion on this issue is turning against it, the ACLU and its radical allies continue to rely on discredited standards to argue that these procedures are medically necessary,” Marshall explained. “The evidence says otherwise. These harmful interventions have lasting consequences for vulnerable children.”
The coalition of states submitted amicus briefs in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the briefs submitted to the courts, both argued that the district court judges relied too much on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s standard care guidelines. The briefs stated this organization lacks scientific credibility and has outside political and advocacy influences affecting its guidelines.
These legal cases are not the only ones dealing with the Trump administration’s policies surrounding transgender healthcare.
Last week, 16 states announced they were suing the Trump administration for what they describe as a federal campaign to intimidate health care providers from not offering gender transition treatment to minors.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
