by Jack Applewhite
An amended complaint was filed Friday by parents of transgender kids against the state of Florida over legislation it passed two months ago that bans sex change surgeries, trans hormones and puberty blockers for minors.
The amended complaint, filed by the Southern Legal Counsel and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation on behalf of the parents, alleges that Florida Senate Bill 254 prevents parents of transgender minors from making “necessary” medical decisions about their children’s health and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, according to the complaint. The complaint follows several past instances of groups suing the state over the legislation and seeks to enhance a preliminary injunction that was issued on the bill in June.
“SB 254’s prohibition on established medical care for transgender minors violates parents’ fundamental right to make medical decisions to protect the health and wellbeing of their adolescent children,” the complaint states.
“SB 254’s restrictions on the ability of transgender minors and transgender adults to obtain established medical care also violate the federal Equal Protection Clause because they discriminate based on transgender status and sex and do not serve even a legitimate governmental interest, much less a compelling or important one,” the complaint states. “Instead, these restrictions serve only to prevent transgender adolescents and adults from obtaining safe and effective medically necessary health care.”
Several groups have previously filed lawsuits against Florida for other actions the state has taken against sex change surgeries including a state Department of Health rule limiting minors’ access to the procedure as well as a rule barring the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the surgeries. A lawsuit filed in March by the group of families with transgender children was successful in getting the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the bill.
The preliminary injunction that was issued in June temporarily prohibits the enforcement of the ban on sex change surgeries for minors. The complaint is seeking to enhance this action by asking the court to issue a permanent injunction in the case and definitively strike down the legislation, according to the complaint.
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Jack Applewhite is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Transgender Boy Holding Smartphone” by Rosemary Ketchum.
