The Montana Supreme Court temporarily blocked a law banning so-called gender-affirming care for minors, the Associated Press reported. Proponents of the original bill slammed the decision that will allow harm to come to children.
On Wednesday, the state's high court unanimously agreed with a lower court's decision to nix the bill that would make it illegal to chemically castrate and surgically mutilate children. Phoebe Cross, a 17-year-old gender-confused girl who claims to be a boy, was the lead plaintiff in the case.
"I will never understand why my representatives are working to strip me of my rights and the rights of other transgender kids. Just living as a trans teenager is difficult enough, the last thing me and my peers need is to have our rights taken away," Cross said.
The case will now go before District Court Judge Jason Marks in Missoula for further consideration. The state's attorney general eagerly awaits the opportunity to defend the law, especially since Britain just banned puberty blockers indefinitely because of the risks.
Proponents of the bill are outraged that the state's Supreme Court cares so little about protecting children. Sen. John Fuller, the bill's GOP sponsor, called the decision "an egregious example of the hyperpartisanship of the Montana Supreme Court."
Fuller slammed the high court for allowing Montana doctors to "sterilize and mutilate children" while failing to protect them "from unscientific and experimental drugs and operations that have grown increasingly evident as a danger to children." Montana's attorney general has vowed to keep up the fight.
Spokesperson Chase Scheuer said the "Supreme Court put the wellbeing of children -- who have yet to reach puberty -- at risk by allowing experimental treatments that could leave them to deal with serious and irreversible consequences for the rest of their lives to continue." It's clear that the safety concerns can no longer be ignored.
In a decision Wednesday across the pond, the U.K. announced that "existing emergency measures banning the sale and supply of puberty-suppressing hormones will be made indefinite, following official advice from medical experts," Fox News reported. This decision was about the well-being of children.
"Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led. The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people," Wes Streeting, the U.K.'s Health and Social Care Secretary, noted in a statement.
Despite the evidence that these medications and procedures are harmful, the people opposing the laws against them have vowed to continue to fight. At least 25 other states have attempted to pass s similar legislation and have similarly been subject to lawsuits.
Predictably, ACLU Montana Executive Director Akilah Deernose celebrated the high court's decision. "Today’s ruling permits our clients to breathe a sigh of relief," Deernose said in a statement.
"But the fight for trans rights is far from over. We will continue to push for the right of all Montanans, including those who are transgender, to be themselves and live their lives free of intrusive government interference," the spokesperson added.
Justice Beth Baker, who wrote the majority opinion, claimed that Senate Bill 99 "affords no room for decision-making by a patient in consultation with their doctors and parents" to frame it as a liberty issue. "The statute is a complete ban, prohibiting individualized care tailored to the needs of each patient based on the exercise of professional medical judgment and informed consent."
It's unbelievable that anyone would support such barbaric and radical treatments for children who are confused about their gender. The Montana Supreme Court has issued a ruling that will allow those who want to harm children this way to continue unimpeded, and that's just disgraceful.
