President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice released a statement on Wednesday noting it would challenge a Tennessee law that protects children from sex-change treatments and surgeries.
The Biden DOJ referred to sex-change treatments and surgeries on kids as “critical” and “medically necessary care.”
The DOJ claims the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Biden’s DOJ is also seeking an immediate order from the court to prevent the law from going into effect on July 1, 2023.
“By denying only transgender youth access to these forms of medically necessary care while allowing non-transgender minors access to the same or similar procedures, SB1 discriminates against transgender youth,” the statement from the Biden DOJ said.
Doctors, parents and anyone else providing or offering to provide prohibited care faces the possibility of civil suits for 30 years and other sanctions.
“No person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The right to consider your health and medically-approved treatment options with your family and doctors is a right that everyone should have, including transgender children, who are especially vulnerable to serious risks of depression, anxiety and suicide. The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department will continue to aggressively challenge all forms of discrimination and unlawful barriers faced by the LGBTQI+ community.”
The bill passed the Senate 26-6 and the Tennessee House 77-16.
