The Texas Supreme Court allowed a new law banning gender-transition treatment for minors to take effect on Friday.
A lower court had temporarily blocked the law from taking effect in a ruling last week that found the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their challenge on state constitutional grounds. However, that decision was appealed by the attorney general to the Texas Supreme Court, a move that prevented the temporary injunction from taking effect.
On Thursday, the state's highest court denied an emergency application to block the law from taking effect while the state Supreme Court considers the appeal.
Transgender minors and their parents, as well as several rights groups, including Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Texas, are behind the legal challenge to the law, which bans doctors from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers to minors, and from performing gender-transition surgeries on minors.
Doctors who violate the law can have their medical licenses revoked. The measure also prohibits health insurance plans from covering the gender-transition services. It will immediately prevent doctors from providing transition treatments to new patients and will require that existing patients are gradually taken off of the treatments they have been receiving.
The law makes Texas the largest state to ban transgender care for minors, of more than 2o states with similar laws.
The advocacy groups behind the lawsuit called the state Supreme Court’s decision to allow the law to take effect “cruel.”
"Transgender youth and their families are forced to confront the start of the school year fearful of what awaits them. But let us be clear: The fight is far from over," the groups said in a joint statement.
They have argued that the law violates the state constitution and denies parents the right to make decisions about their children's medical care. The plaintiffs argue the measure also discriminates against transgender people with gender dysphoria by denying them treatments that remain available to minors in Texas for the treatment of other issues.
Texas Values, a conservative group that supported the law, celebrated the decision.
"Texas kids are safer today because of the Supreme Court ruling," said Jonathan Covey, the group’s policy director. "Protecting children from harmful and dangerous gender transition surgeries and puberty blockers is in the best interests of the child and something we all agree on."
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