Texas Defends Gender-Affirming Care Ban in State’s Top Court

Texas’ gender-affirming care ban for minors comports with state constitutional guarantees, is consistent with case law, and is justified by “the evidence of harm that these treatments can cause vulnerable children,” the state’s attorneys said in a brief to the Texas Supreme Court.

Texas is asking the court to invalidate a lower court order that barred enforcement of the provision pending the outcome of a state constitutional challenge filed by transgender minors, their parents, and physicians. The law in question bans minors from accessing, and doctors from prescribing, puberty-blocking drugs and hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria, even when parents ...