Texas Supreme Court rejects attempt to stop law banning gender-affirming care for most minors

The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday denied a motion to stop a new law that will ban gender-affirming care for most minors.

The law, passed by the Republican-led Texas state legislature earlier this year, is set to go into effect on Friday. 

A group of families and physicians filed a lawsuit earlier this summer to block the measure. Last week, a district court stopped the law from going into effect, arguing it violated the rights of transgender children. The Texas attorney general’s office appealed to the state Supreme Court, which is composed entirely of Republicans.

The bill, known as SB14, would prevent transgender minors from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition surgeries. Children and teens who are already accessing treatments would be “weaned off” in a “medically appropriate” manner, according to CBS Texas.

Medical experts have said gender-affirming surgical procedures are rarely performed on children. 

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that “transgender adolescents in Texas are now faced with the loss of access to safe, effective, and medically necessary treatment, and their parents are faced with the loss of their ability to direct their children’s medical treatment.” 

The state Supreme Court did not offer an explanation for its decision.

Texas is one of more than 20 states that have recently adopted laws to ban gender-affirming care, although not all have gone into effect, according to The Associated Press. Texas is the most populous state among those enacting such bans.