A federal judge will hear arguments Thursday in a legal challenge to Alabama’s plan to use drugs to treat transgender teens.
Judge Liles Burke has scheduled a hearing on a request to block implementation of the law while the objection is heard in court. The law, which is due to take effect on Sunday, penalizes medical providers who administer puberty blockers and hormones to people under 19 to help assert their gender identity with up to 10 years in prison.
Four families with transgender minors, two doctors and a member of the clergy have filed a lawsuit challenging the law, saying it is an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and free expression rights and an intrusion on parental rights. The Justice Department has asked to join the case.
“No other state has passed a law like the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, and for good reason. The law takes the unprecedented step of depriving parents of the opportunity to obtain well-established medical care for their children,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in the document requesting an injunction once morest the law.
The state wants Burke to let the law go into effect.
“If the court orders such an act, Alabama children will face irreversible harm from unproven, sterilizing, and permanent medical interventions promoted by ideological interest groups,” the state attorneys wrote.
