The Biden administration has been forceful in its defense of life-altering and often irreversible medical procedures for minors who claim to be transgender.
In an interview with social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney last year, President Joe Biden even asserted that it is “immoral” and “outrageous” to deny children access to hormonal, chemical, or surgical treatment in accordance with their chosen gender identity.
“I don’t think any state or anybody should have the right to do that,” he said at the time. “As a moral question or as a legal question, I just think it’s wrong.”
The Department of Justice clearly agrees with that assessment, as evidenced by a lawsuit against a new law in Tennessee set to go into effect on July 1. The measure seeks to prevent minors from undergoing hormone replacement and surgery, but the Biden administration is asserting that the prohibition is unconstitutional.
In a statement on the matter, the Justice Department asserts that the bill’s “blanket ban prohibits potential treatment options that have been recommended by major medical associations for consideration in limited circumstances in accordance with established and comprehensive guidelines and standards of care.”
Despite the fact that a growing number of detransitioning adults who underwent such procedures as children are now speaking out against the same treatments outlined in this bill, the Justice Department believes it knows best.
“By denying only transgender youth access to these forms of medically necessary care while allowing non-transgender minors access to the same or similar procedures, SB 1 discriminates against transgender youth,” the statement continued. “The department’s complaint alleges that SB 1 violates the Equal Protection Clause by discriminating on the basis of both sex and transgender status. Doctors, parents and anyone else who provides or offers to provide the prohibited care faces the possibility of civil suits for 30 years and other sanctions.”
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke also spoke out against the Tennessee bill, vowing that the Justice Department “will continue to aggressively challenge all forms of discrimination and unlawful barriers faced by the LGBTQI+ community.”
Gov. Bill Lee, who signed the bill into law last month, is among the many Tennessee Republicans in favor of banning such procedures in the interest of protecting children.
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) April 27, 2023
As state House Majority Leader William Lamberth explained: “These treatments and procedures have a lifetime of negative consequences that are irreversible.”
