September 28th, 2023 by WCBC Radio
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a multistate coalition of 19 Attorneys General in filing an amicus brief opposing a state law in Indiana that severely blocks the ability of transgender youth to access critical, lifesaving gender-affirming care. The plaintiffs in K.C. v. Indiana are suing to block Indiana’s Senate Enacted Act (S.E.A.) 480, which prohibits healthcare professionals from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth.
“Access to evidence-based, gender-affirming healthcare is critical to the health and well-being of transgender people,” said Attorney General Brown. “Youth, in particular, have better health outcomes when providers can address and treat gender dysphoria early, without interference from unlawful state bans on these life-saving health care services.”
Many transgender teens suffer from gender dysphoria, which results from the incongruence between their gender identities and sex assigned at birth. Gender dysphoria has been found to cause severe distress and anxiety, depression, fatigue, decreased social functioning, substance misuse, and a poorer quality of life. Among transgender people, suicide attempts are nine times more common than in the overall U.S. population. Those risks are even higher among transgender youth.
Enacted in April 2023, Indiana’s S.E.A. 480 is aimed at blocking transgender minors’ access to medical treatment for gender dysphoria, such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers.
In their brief, the Attorneys General argue that S.E.A. 480:
- Significantly harms the health and lives of transgender people by denying them medically necessary care that protects their physical, emotional, and psychological health.
- Is discriminatory and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by banning medical treatment for transgender youth while permitting the same treatment for cisgender youth.
In filing today’s amicus brief, Attorney General Brown joins the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
