ATLANTA – A new Georgia law limiting medical care for transgender children is likely to face serious legal challenges, experts say.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law Thursday that prevents Georgians under 18 from obtaining gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy or surgery.
The Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has vowed to sue the state over the new law. The challenge is likely to succeed, law professors told Capitol Beat.
Federal courts have blocked, at least preliminarily, similar laws banning gender-affirming care in Arkansas and Alabama, said Katie Eyer, a professor of law at Rutgers University. Neither of those cases has reached a full conclusion yet, but preliminary injunctions indicate the courts are likely to find the laws invalid, Eyer said.
“Federal courts have been pretty protective of transgender rights recently,” added Scott Skinner-Thompson, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School. “[The laws] are targeting trans kids and their parents and therefore discriminating against them on the basis of sex.
“[It] interferes with the parents and children’s right to make medical decisions about their lives, which the courts have also recognized as a fundamental right under the due process clause of the Constitution.”
The Georgia law, which takes effect July 1, is likely to face similar arguments.
“We can and will file a lawsuit before then,” said Cory Isaacson, legal director for the ACLU of Georgia. “[The law] violates fundamental constitutional rights under both the state and federal constitutions, including the right to be protected from discrimination and the right to parental autonomy.”
Georgia joins a growing list of states that have banned such care. Since the start of this year, similar laws have been enacted in South…
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