OKLAHOMA CITY — The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a challenge to Oklahoma’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, a case brought by transgender youth, their families, and medical providers, according to the ACLU of Oklahoma.
The ACLU of Oklahoma said the ACLU, Lambda Legal, a group of family members, and medical providers sued the state over SB 613, which prohibits gender-affirming care for minors and imposes penalties on providers. SB 613 “threatens providers who violate the law with a felony conviction and discipline from their professional licensing boards,” the ACLU said.
The lawsuit argued that SB 613 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. It also challenged SB 3, which bans gender-affirming care at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center and ties it to the hospital’s receipt of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, on the same constitutional and statutory grounds.
In Poe v. Drummond, the court rejected the ACLU’s argument that SB 613 constitutes discrimination against transgender youth under intermediate scrutiny. Circuit Judge Joel Carson ruled the law falls under rational basis scrutiny and does not discriminate “based on sex” because it targets individuals based on “age” and “medical” use.
Under rational basis scrutiny, the government must prove a law advances a “legitimate” state interest. Intermediate scrutiny, by contrast, requires proof of an “important” state interest. The Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute notes rational basis applies when “no fundamental rights or suspect classifications are at issue,” while intermediate scrutiny is often used in sex discrimination cases.
The ACLU also noted that the Oklahoma Legislature censured State Rep. Mauree Turner for “offering a protester the use of an office in the aftermath of an arrest.” According to The 19th News, the protester was arrested for allegedly throwing water at a state representative and a state trooper. Turner, the only openly nonbinary lawmaker in Oklahoma, said the protester was preparing to “turn themselves in” at the office and refused to apologize. They were removed from their committee assignments.
In his opinion, Carson cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld Tennessee’s SB 1 banning gender-affirming care for minors. In that ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote SB 1 met the rational basis standard and did not discriminate based on sex but rather on “age” and “diagnosis.”
Roberts wrote that the Equal Protection Clause does not resolve disagreements over “the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field,” adding that discretion on such matters should rest with the states.
Sanity at last.
The people who are protecting minors like Beth Bourne and M4L are racking up victories right and left.
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
That depends on how you look at it.
I feel those who are harming children with drastic gender medical procedures have forfeited their souls often times for profit.
I’ll bet if you ask Beth she feels she has saved her soul and the souls of many other lives that her actions may have protected.
Lost her job, lost her family, lost her kid, lost her friends.
If Beth lost her job as a result of her advocacy, I suspect it’s not Beth who will ultimately have a problem.
In any case, Beth has also gained some new friends – a lot of them, apparently.
Sometimes, it takes a “martyr” to challenge corrupt group-think.
I’m not sure that I care enough about strangers to do what Beth does, though I’ve seen the same type of group-think in regard to other issues, as well (e.g., in regard to illegal immigration). There are people who support it, and are convinced that those concerned about it are doing so as a result of racism. (There is no changing their minds/conclusions regarding that belief.)
Lost her job due to cutbacks or do you know something?
Maybe some of the other things you posted are true but I don’t think you have any standing to claim she forfeited her soul.
I didn’t mean it literally
Well it was you who posted the quote then tried to back it up.
I meant it metaphorically
American Academy of Pediatrics: “There is strong consensus among the most prominent medical organizations worldwide that evidence-based, gender-affirming care for transgender children and adolescents is medically necessary and appropriate. It can even be lifesaving. The decision of whether and when to start gender-affirming treatment, which does not necessarily lead to hormone therapy or surgery, is personal and involves careful consideration by each patient and their family…
Critics of our gender-affirming care policy mischaracterize it as pushing medical or surgical treatments on youth; in fact, the policy calls for the opposite: a holistic, collaborative, compassionate approach to care with no end goal or agenda… Yet outside of our organization, there is a dangerous movement taking place, led by extremists, targeting youth who are receiving gender-affirming care, and vilifying the pediatricians providing their care. The result has been rampant disinformation about what this care is and real threats of violence against some of our members.
In some states, efforts are underway to restrict access to gender-affirming care and criminalize the pediatricians who provide it. This has already had a chilling effect on access to care in these communities, and other efforts across the country are focused on doing the same. The people who suffer the most from this discrimination are of course the children and teens just trying to live their lives as their true selves. Pediatricians will not stay silent as these lies are waged against our patients and our peers.” – Moira Szilagyi, MD, PhD, FAAP, 2022 president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The Endocrine Society
“The treatment of transgender and gender diverse youth should be governed by the best available medical evidence, not politics,’ said Joshua D. Safer, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.E., co-author of the Society’s Clinical Practice Guideline and position statement on transgender medicine. ‘When caring for transgender and gender diverse youth, physicians and mental health professionals must be able to freely practice and choose the best available treatment options in consultation with the patients and their parents, as they would when treating any other condition.” (April 14, 2021)
February 25, 2022 – The Journal of the American Medical Association published new research on gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth ages 13-20, finding that “including puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones, was associated with 60% lower odds of moderate or severe depression and 73% lower odds of suicidality over a 12-month follow-up.”
American Psychiatric Association: Our organizations, which represent nearly 600,000 physicians and medical students, oppose any laws and regulations that discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse individuals or interfere in the confidential relationship between a patient and their physician. That confidentiality is critical to allow patients to trust physicians to properly counsel, diagnose and treat. Our organizations are strongly opposed to any legislation or regulation that would interfere with the provision of evidence-based patient care for any patient, affirming our commitment to patient safety. We recognize health as a basic human right for every person, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.” (Joint statement with the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Osteopathic Association; April 2, 2021)
American Academy of Pediatrics: “The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that youth who identify as transgender have access to comprehensive, gender-affirming, and developmentally appropriate health care that is provided in a safe and inclusive clinical space..” (March 16, 2021)
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: “(AACAP) supports the use of current evidence-based clinical care with minors. AACAP strongly opposes any efforts – legal, legislative, and otherwise – to block access to these recognized interventions. Blocking access to timely care has been shown to increase youths’ risk for suicidal ideation and other negative mental health outcomes. Consistent with AACAP’s policy against conversion therapy, AACAP recommends that youth and their families formulate an individualized treatment plan with their clinician that addresses the youth’s unique mental health needs under the premise that all gender identities and expressions are not inherently pathological.” (November 8, 2019)