While a federal judge considers whether to grant a motion to put the law on hold, an Alabama law that makes it a felony to offer gender-affirming medical treatment to transgender minors entered into effect on Sunday. Providing puberty blockers, hormones, or medical procedures to transgender adolescents under the age of 19 is now a crime punishable by up to ten years in prison. On April 8, Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill. Last year, the courts in Arkansas blocked the implementation of a similar but less far-reaching measure.
The case was brought on behalf of four Alabama transgender youth’s parents, two physicians, and a minister. The United States Department of Justice has joined the action, claiming that the Alabama statute violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee.
Gender-affirming care, according to mainstream medical and mental health professionals, saves lives by lowering the already high risk of depression and suicide among trans youth. According to medical experts, gender-reassignment surgery for people under the age of 18 is highly rare and would only be performed after years of treatment in circumstances when the patient’s demands are unshakeable.
Before the November midterm congressional elections, transgender rights have become a wedge issue in the culture wars. Hundreds of Republican proposals have been submitted to state legislatures, most of which are aimed against transgender people. Many conservative groups and Republicans support the measures as safeguards for children and parental rights. Democrats and LGBTQ organizations are among those who argue the bill is cruel, unneeded, and will have disastrous effects on an already vulnerable community.
According to a recent study conducted by the Trevor Project, a non-profit dedicated to LGBTQ youth suicide prevention, 93 percent of transgender and nonbinary kids are concerned about trans persons being refused access to gender-affirming medical care owing to state or municipal restrictions.
