The AAMC joined the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 20 other organizations in an amicus brief filed Jan. 24 focused on ensuring that all adolescents, including those with gender dysphoria, receive the optimal medical and mental health care they need.
The brief, filed in a Texas state appeals court, urged affirmance of several injunctions to protect health care providers from civil and criminal penalties. The case stems from when the Texas attorney general issued an opinion in February 2022 classifying as “child abuse” certain evidence-based medical treatments for adolescents with gender dysphoria. State child protection authorities promised to investigate any reported instances of such treatment, prompting litigation in Masters et al. v. PFLAG Inc. et al. that for now has resulted in injunctions preventing such enforcement.
The amicus brief provides background on gender identity and gender dysphoria. The brief addresses evidence-based, gender-affirming care (other than surgery which is typically available to transgender adults). It details 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. The brief warns the court that undertaking enforcement actions sought by the Texas state government would exacerbate the risks of depression, self-harm, and suicide among transgender adolescents, and put health care providers in an impossible situation where their professional and ethical duties put them in legal jeopardy.
- Washington Highlights