The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the State of Texas in an attempt to stop its upcoming ban on sex alteration surgeries and transgender hormones for minors.
SB 14, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, would largely prevent children under the age of 18 from undergoing surgery or being administered drugs based on reasons related to sex or gender, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The ACLU announced on July 13 that it was “suing Texas over their ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth.”
“Our clients are families and medical providers who will be irreparably harmed if this ban goes into effect — and many of them are already considering relocating,” the left-wing activist group tweeted.
The national ACLU group is working alongside its Texas branch as well as Lambda Legal and the Transgender Law Center, among others.
“[W]e’ll keep fighting for trans youth to have a safe home in Texas,” the organization wrote.
ACLU of Texas tweeted, “Enough is enough. Children deserve better than bullying masquerading as policy.” The group called the ban on sex alteration surgeries and other related medical practices “just plain cruel.”
“It would forbid parents from providing best-practice medical care for their children,” the group claimed. “And it would ban care for trans youth while allowing the same treatments for any other young person. That’s textbook discrimination.”
The plaintiffs in the case include “five Texas families, three medical professionals, and two organizations representing hundreds of families and health professionals across the state.”
One of the parties to the suit, a 16-year-old biological female who identifies as a boy, claimed in a press release, “The idea of growing up as a woman felt so indescribably and inexplicably wrong, and I couldn’t picture myself as a young teenage girl. I was constantly unhappy.”
“Being on testosterone has tremendously improved all aspects of my life,” the teen continued. “I love Texas. … I do not want to leave it because my government has decided to attack people like me.”
The lawsuit alleges that SB 14 violates the Texas Constitution “by prohibiting, penalizing, and denying coverage for the provision of the very medical treatment parents seek for their children with gender dysphoria — treatment that their transgender children want and that their children’s doctors and medical provides have prescribed as medically necessary.”
Others have disputed the medical science behind such procedures, pointing out that many are irreversible and can have a lasting impact on children as they mature.
Andrew Brown, the associate vice president of policy for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told The Dallas Express, “There remains no clear and conclusive evidence that blocking puberty, administering cross-sex hormones, or, least of all, performing irreversible surgical procedures help children overcome gender dysphoria.”
“There is, however, emerging research that shows significant and potentially irreparable damage to children that are given these treatments,” he claimed. “Texas, along with a growing number of states, responded to the medical evidence and enacted effective and compassionate legislation to safeguard the health and well-being of children.”
Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) dismissed the legal action, tweeting, “This lawsuit was expected. What should also be expected is the State of Texas vigorously defending this law that protects children from dangerous and irreversible modification and mutilation procedures.”