LEXINGTON, KY — Kentucky's full ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender kids was set to go into effect at midnight on Thursday. But the federal court issued a temporary block just hours before it happened.
“We are grateful to the Court for enjoining this egregious ban on medically necessary care, which would have caused harm for countless young Kentuckians. This is a win, but it is only the first step," said ACLU of Kentucky Legal Director Corey Shapiro. "We’re prepared to fight for families’ right to make their own private medical decisions in court, and to continue doing everything in our power to ensure access to medical care is permanently secured in Kentucky.”
"This decision is a huge relief for the families targeted by this unnecessary and harmful law, which prevents doctors from doing their jobs and parents from making medical decisions for their own children," said Shannon Minter, Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). "We are grateful that the court carefully considered all of the evidence and recognized that there is no support for this dangerous and unprecedented law."
Although advocates are happy with the court order to currently block the ban, they still worry about what could happen if the block is lifted. They argue the ban will have tough impacts on trans kids who currently receive treatment in Kentucky. They will no longer be able to receive that level of healthcare in-state.
"Those who are continuing to receive their care in-state will forcibly have their hormone levels lowered over time, according to the bill's provision. This is contrary to the standards of care in every way," said Rebecca Blankenship, a trans woman who is fighting against the ban. "Those who do want to continue to receive their full dose will have to travel out of state - in some cases as far as Illinois - in order to maintain their current levels of care."
"I heard from a family who said they're going to go all the way to Pennsylvania just to try to maintain the level of medication that their child has already been receiving," she added.
Kentucky lawmakers who passed the gender-affirming healthcare ban said they did so to protect kids from harm and possible future regret. But Blankenship says trans kids who receive gender-affirming healthcare have gone through an extensive process to ensure the care would be best for them.
"We talk about protecting kids from harm, but what we don't talk about are the layers of hoops these people already had to go through - in terms of going through a ton of therapy - before ever receiving hormones in the first place," said Blankenship. "These kids have been vetted. They have been verified to be suffering from real, diagnosable gender dysphoria."
Although LGBTQ advocates worry about increased suicides as a potential result of Kentucky's ban, Blankenship says the trans community is resilient.
"I believe that most of these kids will come through this - harmed but strong," she said. "And that the end result of this will not be mass suicides, of pitiable tragedy. It will be a revolution among these youth who will not tolerate their government treating them in this manner."
"To all those kids who are facing the cutoff of access to care, we will get through this," Blankenship added. "There are people here who are fighting for you. There are people who love you. And there are people, who have been through what you're going to go through, who are going to be by your side."
Attorney General Daniel Cameron called the federal court's action on the ban a "misguided decision" that "tramples the right of the General Assembly to make public policy for the Commonwealth."
"Senate Bill 150 is a commonsense law that protects Kentucky children from unnecessary medical experimentation with powerful drugs and hormone treatments. These procedures are not based on science, threaten the safety of minors, and have irreversible life-long consequences on children’s health," said Cameron. "This is why other countries have moved to restrict such treatments, citing a lack of medical evidence and considerable long-term risks, and have called for the kind of protections contained in SB 150."
"I will always fight the radical idea that risky drugs and life-altering surgical mutilations should be tools to put confused children on an inevitable path toward a life of gender dysphoria," he added. "There is nothing “affirming” about this dangerous approach to mental health, and my office will continue to do everything in our power to defend this law passed by our elected representatives.”
