Update: Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, PFLAG and the LGBTQ+ medical association GLMA on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in federal court to block this executive order on behalf of transgender youth under the age of 19 in Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia.
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order to limit access to proven health care for transgender people under the age of 19. Ricardo Martinez, Executive Director of GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), made the following statement:
Tuesday’s executive order targeting health care for transgender youth continues the Trump Administration’s extreme, needless, and unconstitutional attack on vulnerable transgender Americans. It will deliberately make the daily lives of a very small group of young people and their families painful and more difficult—it is cruel and wrong. The message is clear and deliberate–this administration wishes to harm a vulnerable group of young people and their families.
We expect this executive order to be challenged and enjoined because it is blatantly unconstitutional. A president’s powers are not unlimited—the Constitution, federal courts and our democratic system serve as a bulwark against overreach. The implementation of this order cannot happen overnight. There is no immediate legal reason for hospitals or clinics to change the care they are providing to transgender youth.
This executive order is an unprecedented and disturbing example of extreme government overreach into the private lives of American families. Parents, not the government, know what is best for their children. Just like any other parents, the parents of a transgender teenager should have the freedom to ensure their child can receive the prescribed medical care they need from doctors they trust. This order strips that freedom away from families.
The health care that the government is targeting through this executive order is proven care that enables countless transgender adolescents and adults to be healthy and thrive—and it’s supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and every other leading U.S. medical professional association. This executive order attempts to overrule medical experts and impose new restrictions based on nothing but animus toward transgender people.
Despite this administration’s latest attempt to sow fear and chaos, no executive action can change the fundamental truth that transgender people are vital members of our families and communities. Like all people, transgender people deserve dignity, respect, and the freedom to live without fear of government-sanctioned harm.
GLAD Law will use every tool we have to fight for LGBTQ+ people’s rights and for fairness and dignity. We will defend the fundamental principle that equal protection under the law is guaranteed—without exception.
More: glad.org
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