A federal judge in Idaho issued a block on a state law that would ban gender transitions for children before it was set to go into effect Jan. 1.
The law, which made it a felony to transition children medically, was struck down by District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, who claimed parents have the right to transition their children.
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“Transgender children should receive equal treatment under the law,” Winmill wrote in the decision. “Parents should have the right to make the most fundamental decisions about how to care for their children.”
“Time and again, these cases illustrate that the Fourteenth Amendment’s primary role is to protect disfavored minorities and preserve our fundamental rights from legislative overreach,” the judge continued. “That was true for newly freed slaves following the civil war. It was true in the 20th Century for women, people of color, inter-racial couples, and individuals seeking access to contraception. And it is no less true for transgender children and their parents in the 21st Century.”
Winmill argued that the Idaho law violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
In April, Gov. Brad Little (R-ID) signed into law the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, which bans transition drugs such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, as well as surgeries such as double mastectomies, for children. Any doctor found to be administering such interventions to minors could see a felony charge with up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
“In signing this bill, I recognize our society plays a role in protecting minors from surgeries or treatments that can irreversibly damage their healthy bodies,” Little said when signing the bill. “However, as policymakers, we should take great caution whenever we consider allowing the government to interfere with loving parents and their decisions about what is best for their children.”
The families of two Idaho teenagers claiming transgender identity quickly filed suit, arguing that the medical interventions are necessary. They are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU Idaho.
“Trans people like myself deserve the same chance at safety and liberty as everyone else, but this law specifically targets us and our health care for no good reason,” one of the anonymous plaintiffs, a biological boy referred to as 16-year-old Jane Doe in the filing, said in May.
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The lawsuit also states that “every major medical organization in the United States, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association,” supports gender transitions for children.
That is a sticking point for many conservatives who have argued in favor of passing the restrictions; those critics say most major medical groups in America will not criticize the practice because pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and hospitals earn high profits from the procedures. Many European countries have emerged in opposition to the medical practice for children based on evidence of long-term and often irreversible harm.
