Texas Supreme Court upholds law banning transition-related care for transgender minors
The Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday morning upholding a law banning transgender minors from receiving certain health care options, handing a legal defeat to families and doctors who sued the state in order to block the restrictions.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday morning upholding a law banning transgender minors from receiving certain health care options, handing a legal defeat to families, doctors and LGBTQ+ advocates who sued the state in order to block the restrictions.
A majority of the justices said they ultimately believe Senate Bill 14 does not violate the Texas Constitution and that the plaintiffs failed to meet "a probable right to relief on their claims" of legislative overreach. They wrote Texas lawmakers acted within their right to regulate the medical field.
"For the reasons explained below, we conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children, particularly in light of the relative nascency of both gender dysphoria and its various modes of treatment and the Legislature’s express constitutional authority to regulate the practice of medicine. We therefore conclude the statute does not unconstitutionally deprive parents of their rights or physicians or health care providers of an alleged property right in their medical licenses or claimed right to occupational freedom," the majority wrote. "We also conclude the law does not unconstitutionally deny or abridge equality under the law because of sex or any other characteristic asserted by plaintiffs."
The court heard oral arguments almost five months ago in the lawsuit against SB 14, which bars young people experiencing gender dysphoria in Texas from getting puberty-blocking medication, hormone therapies or surgeries to assist in their transition. It also puts medical licenses in jeopardy for doctors who offer these treatment options to patients. Gov. Greg Abbott signed that legislation into law last June, which led to a swift legal challenge from the parents of five children, three doctors and two advocacy organizations.
In a post on his personal X account, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the court's decision.
"My office will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that doctors and medical institutions follow the law," Paxton wrote Friday morning.
A Travis County district court judge issued a temporary injunction against SB 14, but the Texas Supreme Court's decision Friday lifts that order from remaining in effect.
Only one state justice, Debra Lehrmann, issued a dissent in the case. She previously expressed skepticism while questioning the state's attorney defending the law during oral arguments on Jan. 30.
"Surely the right of parents to make medical decisions, in consultation with their physicians, regarding the welfare of their children is worthy of more constitutional protection than the Court recognizes today," Lehrmann wrote. "Concerningly, the Court’s opinion puts all parental decisions at risk of being overruled by the government. The Court’s attempt to cabin its opinion to only this case makes its outcome driven decision-making all the more transparent. Because the Court refuses to properly recognize this core right, I am compelled to respectfully express my dissent."
Lambda Legal, one of the civil rights organizations that helped represent the plaintiffs in this case, issued a statement expressing its disappointment in the court's decision, saying this law removes parents' ability to make decisions for their children as well as penalizes doctors from offering care recommended by most leading medical organizations.
“It is impossible to overstate the devastating impact of this ruling on Texas transgender youth and the families that love and support them,” Karen Loewy, the senior counsel and director of constitutional law practice at Lambda Legal, said. “Instead of leaving medical decisions concerning minor children where they belong, with their parents and their doctors, the Court here has elected to let politicians – in blatant disregard for the overwhelming medical consensus – determine the allowed course of treatment, threatening the health and the very lives of Texas transgender youth. We will continue to fight measures like SB14. These youth and their families deserve no less.”
Lynly Egyes, the legal director at the Transgender Law Center, added in a statement, "SB14 goes against trusted medical advice and is a strain on transgender youth, their families who love them, and the providers who support them. All Texans, no matter what they look like or the neighborhood they live in, should know that we will continue to work alongside our partners to fight for the rights of trans Texans and their families."
Last year's regular legislative session saw a record number of proposals introduced that would affect the state's LGBTQ+ population. This became the focus of a KXAN investigative project called OutLaw, which looked in-depth at a half-century of criminalizing the LGBTQ+ community.