The AAMC joined the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 20 other health organizations in three amicus briefs filed over the past two weeks focused on ensuring that all adolescents, including those with gender dysphoria, receive the optimal medical and mental health care they need.
The association joined an amicus brief on Dec. 1 filed in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the court to affirm the district court’s injunction in Dekker v. Secretary, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. The case involves the elimination of Florida Medicaid coverage for medically necessary treatments for gender dysphoria. While the ban on Medicaid coverage affects all patients who are receiving treatment for gender dysphoria, the amicus brief focused primarily on the experience of transgender adolescents.
On the same day, the AAMC joined another amicus brief in support of a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging a Tennessee law that prohibits health care providers from providing patients under 18 with medically necessary, evidence-based care for gender dysphoria.
On Dec. 11, the AAMC joined an amicus brief supporting a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging a Kentucky law that prohibits health care providers from providing patients under 18 with medically necessary, evidence-based care for gender dysphoria.
The briefs provide background on gender identity and gender dysphoria. They detail the professionally accepted medical guidelines for treating adolescents with gender dysphoria, the scientifically rigorous process by which the guidelines were developed, and the evidence that gender-affirming care is effective and saves lives. The briefs focus primarily on adolescents and so do not discuss surgeries that are typically available to transgender adults.
- Washington Highlights