News
July 2, 2024
Parents Challenging Alabama Transgender Health Ban Oppose State’s Effort to Bypass Trial
Plaintiffs’ filing refutes false claims about the well-established standards of care for transgender adolescents and highlights how purposeful discrimination against transgender people, not concern about health or safety, was at the root of the criminal ban
Plaintiff families challenging Alabama’s ban on health care for transgender adolescents have asked the court to deny the State’s request to rule on the lawfulness of the ban before a full trial.
The plaintiffs’ filing meticulously refutes false claims made in the State’s motion for summary judgment about the established standards of medical care for transgender adolescents. The plaintiffs’ brief cites expert evidence about the rigorous development of those standards, the careful assessment and multidisciplinary approach involved in the delivery of care to transgender adolescents in Alabama, and the well-established benefits of care for transgender adolescents suffering from gender dysphoria.
The families challenging the ban argue that rather than short-circuit the process as the State requests, the case must be allowed to proceed to trial to ensure full consideration of the factual record on the safety and efficacy of transgender health care, the harm suffered by transgender adolescents when they are denied necessary care, and the purposeful discrimination against transgender people that motivated the sweeping ban.