The Texas Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors on Friday, rejecting arguments from parents who claimed it violated their right to seek medical care for their transgender children.
The ruling from the all-Republican court maintains the law, which has been in effect since September 1, 2023. Texas is the largest of at least 25 states to adopt laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
The Texas law prevents transgender minors from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and transition surgeries, although medical experts state that such surgical procedures are rarely performed on children. Children who had already begun the now-banned medications had to be weaned off in a “medically appropriate” manner.
The lawsuit challenging the Texas law argued that it has devastating consequences for transgender teens who are unable to obtain critical treatment recommended by their physicians and parents. A lower court had ruled the law unconstitutional, but it remained in effect while the state Supreme Court considered the case.
Texas officials defended the law as necessary to protect children, noting other restrictions for minors on tattoos, alcohol, tobacco, and certain over-the-counter drugs. The ban was signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who was the first governor to order investigations into families of transgender minors receiving gender-affirming care.