Louisiana Families Sue to Block a State Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth

LGBTQ rights group Lambda Legal announced a lawsuit Monday seeking to block enforcement of a Louisiana ban on gender-affirming procedures for transgender youth.

The civil rights organization prepared the lawsuit, along with the Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation of Harvard Law and a Louisiana law firm, on behalf of five Louisiana minors and their families. The lawsuit targets Act 466, known as the Health Care Ban, which prohibits gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors in Louisiana.

The Health Care Ban took effect on January 1 after Louisiana lawmakers overrode then-governor John Bel Edwards’ veto. The law prohibits hormone treatments, gender reassignment and other gender-affirming healthcare procedures for minors. Lambda Legal claimed in a statement that the ban removes parents’ rights to direct their child’s healthcare, violates the state constitution by unlawfully interfering with minors’ right to obtain or reject medical care, and violates the state constitution’s guarantee to equal protection under the law by discriminating based on sex and transgender status.

Read the source article at JURIST