This invasion of the patient / physician privilege, where the science is clear that the medical condition is real. . . is very much like the idiotic Louisiana "commandments" laws. The idea that state cops could prevent a doctor (on pain of a criminal prosecution) from treating a willing patient, even with the patient's parental consent. . . is. . . just loopy. These are simply wedge issue distractions, and most of the Governors signing the laws. . . likely don't even agree with the measures. But they are red meat for the MAGA crowds. This, from the estimable SCOTUS Blog, with the ever-capable Amy Howe at the keyboard:
. . .The justices will hear arguments in the case in the fall, with a decision likely by late June or early July 2025.
Major U.S. medical groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association have opposed efforts by states to restrict gender-affirming care. In a 2021 letter to the National Governors Association, for example, the American Medical Association cited studies indicating that gender-affirming care can lead to (among other things) “dramatic reductions in suicide attempts, as well as decreased rates of depression and anxiety.”
Tennessee enacted the law at the center of the case in 2023. It bars gender-affirming care, such as hormone treatments and gender-transition surgeries, for transgender patients under 18. The law carved out two exceptions from that general rule: It allows the use of hormone treatments for other patients under 18, such as those who begin puberty too early, and it allowed health-care providers to continue to administer hormone therapy to patients who were already receiving it until March 31, 2024. The legislation allows lawsuits against health-care providers who violate its restrictions, as well as the possibility that such providers could lose their licenses to practice medicine.
The challengers in the Tennessee case are a 16-year-old transgender girl, who has received puberty blockers and estrogen therapy, a 13-year-old transgender boy who has received puberty blockers, and a 16-year-old transgender boy who has received puberty blockers and testosterone therapy. The youths, along with their parents and a doctor who treats transgender patients, filed a lawsuit against Tennessee officials in federal court, seeking to bar the state from enforcing the ban on puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender-transition surgeries.
The Biden administration joined the case under a federal law that allows the government to intervene in private cases alleging violations of the right to equal protection under the law “if the Attorney General certifies that the case is of general public importance. . . .”
Now you know -- I expect the Supremes will say. . . this is inappropriate, and unAmerican -- we believe in equal protection of the law.
नमस्ते
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