Parents sue to overturn Georgia's trans healthcare ban
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A group of Georgia parents of trans children filed a lawsuit Thursday night seeking to block the state's new law restricting gender-affirming care for minors — days before it's set to go into effect.
Why it matters: Nearly 20 states have passed laws restricting access to this care for minors and many have already faced trouble in the courts.
Driving the news: In a lawsuit that the families filed under pseudonyms, they argue the law "infringes parents' fundamental right to make medical decisions in the best interests of their children" and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution by singling out transgender minors.
- The families are represented by a coalition of advocates including the ACLU of Georgia, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign.
The big picture: Federal judges in Kentucky and Tennessee temporarily blocked similar laws in those states this week. Judges have also temporarily blocked Alabama's and Indiana's versions.
- A federal judge in Arkansas struck down the state's first-in-the-nation ban earlier this month.
Context: Georgia's law, which prohibits doctors from administering hormone therapy or transition-related surgery to Georgia minors, is set to go into effect Saturday.
What they're saying: In their request for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs point out that trans minors already receiving hormone therapy before Saturday are grandfathered in.
- "If these treatments are appropriate for transgender minors already receiving them, there is no justification for denying them to transgender minors who require them in the future, even under the lowest level of review, much less under the heightened scrutiny that applies here."
