SMU Law Review Forum
Abstract
The last several years have seen an increasing number of attacks on marginalized groups in the United States, including people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Most recently, some state legislatures have focused their efforts on preventing transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care. Despite a virtually unanimous consensus on the importance and benefits of gender-affirming care, many conservative politicians have taken aim at vulnerable children, standing in the way of potentially life-saving treatment and accusing their families and doctors of child abuse. Laws preventing transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care are just one battle in the larger war on individual liberty interests, bodily autonomy, and health care privacy. Already, anti-trans laws written under the pretext of protecting minors are being expanded to detransition transgender adults and criminalize the very existence of transgender people. At the same time, pregnant people around the country are losing their reproductive rights and access to safe and legal abortions. These are both part of a concerted effort to wedge the unjust influence of oppressive state governments into two of the most intimate social and legal relationships: the relationship between a child and their parent, and the relationship between a patient and their doctor.
This Comment argues that these attacks must be met by political resistance. Litigation before the current Supreme Court and its conservative majority may do more harm than good, and patients in need of medical care deserve prospective protections to safeguard their right to privacy. Therefore, comprehensive federal legislation, such as the proposed Equality Act, is the best solution to protect transgender youth and the broader right to privacy in health care.
Recommended Citation
Suzi Goebel,
Protect Trans Kids: A Call to Action,
77
SMU L. Rev. F.
50
(2024)
