Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana have announced that they will be filing a lawsuit against a sweeping new law banning transgender youth from accessing medically necessary health care that the Governor has now signed.
Senate Bill 99 bans the only evidence-based care for gender dysphoria for transgender people under 18. Montana lawmakers have ignored the warnings of transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers about the harms of this law. Similar restrictions in Alabama and Arkansas have been enjoined by federal courts.
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana issued the following joint statement:
“We will be filing a lawsuit to protect transgender youth in Montana from being stripped of access to healthcare that keeps them healthy and alive. Montana lawmakers have shown that they are hellbent on joining the growing roster of states determined to jeopardize the health and lives of transgender youth, in direct opposition to the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care as appropriate and necessary. Transgender youth in Montana deserve the support and care necessary to give them the same chance to thrive as their peers. Gender-affirming care is a critical part of helping transgender adolescents succeed in school, establish healthy relationships with their friends and family, and live authentically as themselves. We will defend the rights of transgender youth in court, just as we have done in other states engaging in this anti-science and discriminatory fear-mongering.”
Bans like SB99 are opposed by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.