Lambda Legal and ACLU of Texas Plan to File Lawsuit if Texas Legislature Bans Medical Care for Transgender Youth

Lambda Legal and The ACLU of Texas plan to sue the State of Texas if the Legislature and Governor Abbott approve a bill to ban essential, life-saving medical care for transgender youth. Late Monday night, the House Calendars Committee scheduled HB 1399 to be debated before the Texas House of Representatives on Wednesday.

HB 1399 would ban doctors from providing best practice and evidence-based medical care for transgender young people. This bill is part of an onslaught of anti-transgender legislation across the country and here in Texas. A blog explaining this bill and its sweeping harms is available here.

The following quote can be attributed to Shelly Skeen, senior attorney for Lambda Legal.

“HB 1399 is one of the most extreme anti-transgender bills in the country, and it is already taking its toll on transgender youth and their parents.  Lambda Legal has received calls from parents and their children who want to fight the bill if it passes.  This is a prime example of unwarranted governmental overreach to solve a problem that does not exist. Major medical associations, including the Texas Medical Association, American Medical Association, Texas Pediatric Society, Texas Psychological Association, Texas Academy of Family Physicians, and American Academy of Pediatrics, have uniformly expressed opposition to bills that deprive transgender youth of best practice evidence-based medical standards of care.”

The following quote can be attributed to Brian Klosterboer, staff attorney with the ACLU of Texas.

“This bill is an unconstitutional attempt to deny transgender Texans the right to exist. At a time when our state is facing numerous crises, HB 1399 would violate parents’ fundamental right to provide the best possible health care for their kids, usurp doctors’ ability to provide critical and life-saving care, and unlawfully target and discriminate against transgender kids. It also could leave taxpayers footing the bill for legislation that tramples on some of our most fundamental constitutional rights. If lawmakers insist on moving this bill forward, we will see them in court.”

The following quote can be attributed to Adri Perez, policy and advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas.

“It is unbelievably cruel to see the Texas Legislature move a bill forward knowing it will profoundly harm thousands of transgender children. This bill slams the door on their future by banning evidence-based care that the medical community deems essential to young transgender Texan’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Dozens of young children and their families have traveled to Austin time and time again this session to fight for their right to exist. It’s time the Texas Legislature listen to those most impacted by discriminatory legislation and stop all attacks on transgender youth.”