ATLANTA—The ACLU of Georgia will sue the state if Governor Brian Kemp signs Senate Bill 140 into law. Courts around the country have already stopped similar laws from going into effect on constitutional grounds, and we expect Georgia courts would do the same.
SB 140, which was passed by the Senate today, bans gender-affirming care to anyone under age 18 and allows harsh penalties for physicians who perform this life-saving treatment. Political grandstanding should not override medical and parental judgment.
“The Georgia Legislature has once again chosen to place politics before patient care. The politicians who passed SB 140 are interfering with the rights of Georgia parents to get life-saving medical treatment for their children and preventing physicians from properly caring for their patients,” said Cory Isaacson, ACLU of Georgia Legal Director. “The ACLU of Georgia and our partners will now consider all available legal options in order to protect the rights of parents, young people, and medical providers in our state.”
The Senate’s passing of SB 140 is deplorable. Decisions about receiving gender-affirming care should rest with young people, their families, and their physicians. These decisions are too dire and too personal to be interfered with by politicians who have no medical training and no experience working with transgender youth.
The ACLU of Georgia is committed to protecting the civil rights and liberties of all Georgians—in this instance, families simply trying to provide their children with the medical care that their doctors have determined to be necessary and appropriate.
