INDIANAPOLIS — A federal lawsuit, filed on behalf of four families by the ACLU, challenging an Indiana law banning access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth will be heard June 14. A judge is now deciding whether or not to issue an injunction keeping the law from taking effect July 1.
The lawsuit claims Senate Bill 480 violates the U.S. Constitution including the 14th Amendment on equal protection. The lawsuit also claims the law violates federal requirements of the Medicaid Act and the Affordable Care Act. The issue there is denying medical services that would otherwise be authorized and reimbursed by Medicaid.
The new law would prohibit health care professionals from providing or even referring transgender people under 18 for gender-affirming health care.
Two of the plaintiffs, Beth and Nathanial Clawson, say their 10-year-old daughter is fearful about what will happen if she cannot get gender-affirming medical care when puberty begins.
“Starting around the age of two years old, our daughter began telling us who she is,” said Beth Clawson. “When she was three-and-a-half years old, after researching gender dysphoria and consulting with both her therapist and pediatrician, she socially transitioned. That means we started using she/her pronouns and letting her dress as a girl. That was seven years ago, and she hasn’t wavered at all in knowing who she is.”
“As her parents, the most important thing to us is that she knows that we love her, trust her, and will do whatever it takes to ensure that she has every opportunity to grow and develop as her true self regardless of her gender identity,” added Nathaniel Clawson. “Laws that ban her ability to access gender-affirming care take that opportunity away from her.”
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill into law in April. It is set to become law in July. Starting on that date, transgender youth under 18 will be prohibited from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and surgeries in the state.
“Permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelong impacts and medically prescribed preparation for such a transition should occur as an adult, not as a minor," Holcomb said in a statement at the time. "There has and will continue to be debate within the medical community about the best ways to provide physical and mental health care for adolescents who are struggling with their own gender identity, and it is important that we recognize and understand those struggles are real. With all of that in mind, I have decided to sign SB 480 into law."
Trans youth currently taking medication to transition will have until the end of the year to stop doing so, if the ACLU's requested injunction doesn't stop the law from taking effect July 1.
The bill banning gender-affirming care in Indiana won approval by wide margins in both the House and Senate.
At least 11 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, but federal judges have blocked them in Alabama and Arkansas. Around two dozen other states are considering bills to restrict or ban care.