Four Georgia families filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to stop Georgia Senate Bill 140 (“SB 140,” the “Health Care Ban,” or the “Ban”) from taking effect on July 1. The plaintiffs say the law strips them of their right to make critical decisions about their children’s health care, including seeking and obtaining appropriate medical treatment, and inflicts undue harm on one of the state’s most vulnerable groups.
In their complaint and motion requesting to block the law from taking effect, plaintiffs ask that the government not insert itself into personal health care decisions that should be made by parents, children, and their doctors.
Several states, including Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida, have enacted similar Health Care Bans targeting transgender youth, all of which have been enjoined by federal courts in those states. The Georgia law is unique in that it bans one aspect of the medication treatment for gender dysphoria—hormone therapy—while allowing the provision of puberty blockers—even though they go hand-in-hand as part of the full complement of appropriate medical care.
Parent plaintiffs, who have requested a court order allowing them to proceed anonymously based on fears for their safety as a result of the hostility that laws like SB 140 engenders, express the importance of being able to seek and provide the best medical care to support their children’s well-being and to ensure that their children can continue to thrive with access to appropriate medical care, pursuant to recognized standards of care, and according to each child’s individual circumstances and needs