The U.S. Department of Justice is challenging a recently enacted Alabama law that criminalizes certain forms of medically necessary gender-affirming care for transgender youth.The department is also asking the court to issue an immediate order to prevent the law from going into effect on May 8.
The complaint, issued Friday, alleges that Alabama’s Senate Bill 184, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey earlier this month, violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by discriminating on the basis of sex and transgender status.
SB 184 not only punishes parents or legal guardians for making decisions about their children’s health care, but it also threatens criminal prosecution and jail time to doctors and other health care providers for offering — or even suggesting — medically necessary care to trans youth under the age of 19.
