Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency stay request in Poe v. Labrador, siding with Idaho’s ultraconservative Legislature and allowing the state’s ban on transgender medical care for minors to go into effect for the first time since the case began more than two years ago. Although the stay will remain until litigation is resolved, it does not apply to the families who brought the lawsuit, as their children are in the process of receiving transgender medical care. In response, Cait Smith, director of LGBTQI+ Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued that following statement:
Idaho’s ban on transgender medical care is one of the most extreme in the country because it includes felony charges for medical providers. By siding with the state, the justices told transgender youth in Idaho and beyond that waging a culture war is more important than their health—and that decades of research into gender-affirming care does not matter. Transgender medical care is necessary and lifesaving. Transgender youth, like everyone else, deserve access to the care they need. A 2022 study found that transgender youth ages 13–20 who were able to access care saw 60 percent lower odds of moderate to severe depression and 73 percent lower odds of self-harm or suicidal thoughts. Doctors and families together should decide the medical needs of patients, not activist judges
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