On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court sided with a state law prohibiting sex-change procedures for minors. The decision, made by an 8-1 majority, challenged the complaints posed by parents who claimed their children’s rights to seek medical care are being violated. This law prevents children from obtaining hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and transition surgeries.
In their decision, the court stated that it was a reasonable policy choice to limit the types of medical procedures accessible to children. They considered the relatively new emergence of both gender dysphoria and its various treatments, as well as the Legislature’s explicit constitutional authority to regulate medical practice.
The court affirmed the prohibition on surgeries that render a child sterile, mastectomies, and removal of any other healthy or non-diseased body parts. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the ruling on social media, vowing to ensure that the medical community complies with the law.
Leading law and policy organization, Texas Values, both advocated for the law and provided legal backing for it at the Texas Supreme Court. Jonathan Covey, the organization’s Director of Policy, hailed the decision, emphasizing their stance against procedures they consider harmful to children.
Idaho also previously ruled in favor of a similar ban in April, barring minors from sex-change surgeries and the prescription of hormone therapy or puberty blockers.