Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is once again fighting for a state’s right to ban certain transgender procedures on minors.
Marshall filed a multistate brief defending Missouri’s transgender law Thursday. The brief was critical of the group suing that state over the bill.
The latest WPATH standards are gender ideology talking points masquerading as medical standards. These so-called standards advocate…having them undergo life-altering surgeries because it is considered ‘medically necessary gender affirming care.'https://t.co/Snrghon4Ic
— Attorney General Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall) August 18, 2023
The 16-state brief was co-led by Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
Missouri’s law effectively bans experimental and life-altering sex-modification procedures for children, including transition surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormones.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed the law in June, and is fighting against an effort by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to block it.
“In reality, the latest WPATH standards are gender ideology talking points masquerading as medical standards,” Marshall said. “These so-called standards advocate prescribing some children puberty blockers and having them undergo life-altering surgeries because it is considered ‘medically necessary gender affirming care.’
“Our youth deserve better, and I will never stop fighting to protect our children from these radical and often irreversible medical interventions.”
Invoking a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that allowed Tennessee’s similar law to take effect, the brief argues that the Constitution entrusts states with the “authority, in truth a responsibility, to look after the health and safety” of children.
The brief also argues that as European healthcare authorities have sharply restricted access to sex-modification procedures for minors in response to systematic reviews of the evidence, American medical organizations have continued to ignore the evidence and advocate for unfettered access to the procedures.
This is not the first time Marshall has gotten involved in the issue. He is defending a similar law passed in the Yellowhammer State last year.
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the “Alabama Vulnerable Child Protection Act,” which went into effect in 2022, but was later blocked by a U.S. District Judge.
That case is set to go to trial in 2024.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.