Doctors were rushing last week to supply their trans youth patients with enough hormones and puberty blockers to last them several months as from Sunday, the provision of such care was criminalised in Alabama thanks to the new anti-trans bill signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey in April.
The new bills are now in effect and punishment for violation is up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15k. This is by far the most extreme law on gender affirming healthcare in ANY state. In a lawsuit brought by a group of parents, physicians and ministers hoping to block the law at least while he suit proceeded has failed with U.S. District Judge Liles Burke saying:
“This is a complicated case that raises complex and important issues and consists of many hundreds of pages of briefing and exhibits. The Court has made very substantial progress toward crafting an opinion in this matter and expects to file the opinion by the end of this week, if not sooner.”
Of course this affects so many people but it is the parents, doctors and caregivers that would be the ones facing jail. Dr. Hussein Abdul-Latif at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Gender Clinic said: “The state is not only saying I am criminal for prescribing those medications, but it’s saying that my organization of thousands of physicians, pediatricians, and pediatric endocrinologists are maybe partners in that criminal enterprise.”
Although similar to the law in Texas and one in Arkansas (that has temporarily been halted by a judge), the Alabama law is the first to actually criminalise gender-affirming care for kids. In Texas where Governor Abbott has called this sort of treatment ‘child abuse’, Gov. Ivey in Alabama has gone that extra mile, leaving kids and their doctors living in terror.
Another doctor at Birmingham’s Gender Clinic, Dr. Morissa Ladinsky said chillingly: “This is the first time ever that I can remember, at least for pediatricians, that we are literally forced to choose between the Hippocratic Oath we took to ‘do no harm’ and never abandon our patients versus the facing of a potential felony conviction.”
What Roe v. Wade on the brink of getting rolled back, ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills passing all over the country and LGBTQ+ people facing more and more abuse and violence, the USA is a scary place right now. The White House is vociferously opposed to all of the above but it has NEVER been more vital to register to vote and show these lawmakers that we will NOT put up with this any longer.