Montana’s Ban on Transition Care for Minors Is Blocked
A state judge in Montana on Wednesday temporarily blocked a law that would have banned transition care for children under 18 starting on Sunday, while a lawsuit filed by patients and medical professionals proceeds.
Why It Matters: Montana’s case drew national attention.
Montana was a high-profile battleground for a fight that took place in many state legislatures this year over medical procedures for transgender minors. In April, it became one of 22 states to ban or sharply restrict procedures that include puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries.
In a 47-page ruling, Judge Jason Marks wrote that the “plaintiffs demonstrated that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm” if the law goes into effect.
The judge wrote that the record of the legislative debate over the bill was “replete with animus toward transgender persons.” It mischaracterized the nature of the treatments, the judge said, and included statements from lawmakers who conveyed “personal, moral or religious disapproval of gender transition.”
Judge Marks, who previously served as a prosecutor and a public defender, was appointed to his current role in 2019 by Steve Bullock, the former Democratic governor.
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What’s Next: The lawsuit is one of several playing out across the country.
The ruling over an injunction was the first part of a legal fight that may take years to resolve. The case is among at least 14 legal challenges to bans on transgender care for minors that are playing out in state and federal courts across the nation.
Lawyers challenging these bans say courtrooms are better venues than legislatures to debate the efficacy and safety of these medical procedures.
“What we are practicing here is not voodoo,” said Katherine Mistretta, a family nurse practitioner who is one of the plaintiffs in the Montana lawsuit. “I think our justice system will see that there’s enough science to support this, that they will understand that this is appropriate care.”