By William Melhado and Asad Jung, published 06/28/24
The Texas Supreme Court upheld a recent state law that prohibits doctors from prescribing gender-affirming care to transgender minors after parents and medical professionals challenged the constitutionality of the restriction.
Justice Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle, who delivered the opinion of the court, said “fit parents” have a right to raise their children without government interference, but also said that such a right is not absolute.
“When developments in our society raise new and previously unconsidered questions about the appropriate line between parental autonomy on the one hand and the Legislature’s authority to regulate the practice of medicine on the other, our Constitution does not render the Legislature powerless to provide answers,” she wrote.
State lawmakers barred transgender teenages from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy last year, despite fierce opposition from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and parents of trans children. Texas’ ban on transition-related care mirrored those in dozens of states led by Republican legislatures.
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