The complaint filed on Friday alleges that “the new law prohibiting the provision of certain medically necessary care to trans minors violates the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause.”
The Ministry of Justice is asking the court to issue an immediate injunction blocking the law, which is due to take effect on May 8th.
Alabama Senate Bill 184, signed by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey earlier this month, states that medical professionals who provide gender-responsive care to people 18 and under may face up to 10 years in prison. years.
The measure is part of a broader Republican-led movement to impose restrictions on the lives of trans young people in the United States. Despite the legislative impetus for ending this type of treatment, gender-affirming care is a recommended practice for people identified as trans, meaning they identify with a gender that is different from that defined at birth or different. sex, with one sex. an expression that does not strictly match society’s traditional ideas about gender. Separately, two trans-teen families and two doctors sued the state of Alabama for the law earlier this month, also claiming it was violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th U.S. Amendment. Constitution.
“Transgender plaintiffs are currently receiving medical treatment, including inhibitors of adolescence and hormone therapy, for sexual discomfort,” the lawsuit said. “If allowed to enter into force, the law will discontinue these medically necessary treatments, prevent them from receiving future medically necessary treatments for gender discomfort, and cause them irreparable physical and psychological harm.”
Gina Maiola, Ivey’s communications director, previously told CNN that the governor’s office is “ready to stand up for our values and this law,” and Ivey has touted the law as a campaign achievement.
In a tweet on Friday, Ivey said: “Some things are just facts: summer is hot, the ocean is big and gender is a matter of biology, not identity.”
CNN’s Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report.
