DOJ says state policies blocking gender-affirming care for children violate the Constitution

The Department of Justice is warning states like Texas that policies meant to block transgender children from receiving gender-affirming care violate their constitutional rights. “Intentionally erecting discriminatory barriers to prevent individuals from receiving gender-affirming care implicates a number of federal legal guarantees,” DOJ officials wrote in a letter sent Thursday to state attorney generals. The letter comes after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton authored a nonbinding legal opinion that some gender-affirming care may constitute child abuse and Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state’s child welfare agency to investigate parents who get such care for their children. Republicans who support the policy argue that children are being stripped of their constitutional right to procreate, and that even providing gender-affirming medications may constitute abuse because the children are not old enough to consent to them.

A state appeals court temporarily blocked Abbott’s order after the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal sued on behalf of parents. Paxton has asked the state Supreme Court to take up the issue. The DOJ says additional lawsuits may follow. “State laws and policies that prevent parents or guardians from following the advice of a health care professional regarding what may be medically necessary or otherwise appropriate care for transgender minors may infringe on rights protected by both the equal protection and the due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment,” said the DOJ letter, which was sent on Trans Day of Visibility.