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-Great Cultural Revolution

US court partially blocks Alabama's gender-affirmation ban

2022-05-15

Where is Germany along the spectrum of refusing or embracing the mutilation of children? We know from the emotive language seen here where Deutsche Welle stands for Americans in Red states.

[DW] An Alabama ban on the provision of gender-affirming medication for minors has been blocked by a federal judge. Transgender rights have become a bone of contention for right-wing Republicans.

A US district court issued an injunction on Friday partially blocking an Alabama law that criminalizes the prescription of hormone therapies and puberty blockers used to align transgender people's bodies with their gender identity.

The Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act came into effect in the southern state on May 8, not only banning medication treatments for gender dysphoria but also gender-affirming surgeries. Those convicted of violating the ban face up to 10 years in prison.

Judge Liles Burke left in place the latter part of the ban but ruled that the state had not been able to prove that medications used for transitioning were "experimental."

The injunction will remain in effect pending a trial to decide whether the law is in violation of the constitution.

UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAW
In his ruling, Burke said that "the uncontradicted evidence is that at least twenty-two major medical associations in the United States endorse transitioning medications as well-established, evidence-based treatments for gender dysphoria in minors."

These medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Endocrine Society, called on Burke to block the Alabama law.

He said that the provisions in the law are likely unconstitutional. The US Department of Justice, as well as several families with transgender children, have challenged the law, calling it a violation of equal protection and free speech rights, as well as an intrusion into a family's right to make medical decisions.

"Parents have a fundamental right to direct the medical care of their children subject to accepted medical standards," Burke said, adding that "discrimination based on gender non-conformity equates to sex discrimination."

BACKLASH AGAINST TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
The law, introduced by Republican politicians in the traditionally conservative state, is part of an ongoing battle over the recognition of transgender rights in the US.

Another part of the law that was not blocked by Burke's injunction was the requirement for schools to inform parents if a child says that they think they are transgender.

A similar law in Arkansas was blocked before it could come into effect, while another law in Texas that allowed authorities to investigate parents of transgender children for so-called "child abuse" was blocked in March.

However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
on Friday the Texas Supreme Court

...the political football known as The Highest Court in the Land, home of penumbrae and emanations...
overturned this injunction, allowing the investigations to once again go ahead.

The slate of legislation against transgender rights has coincided with increasing limitations on ~~child sacrifice~~ abortion rights in some US states.

Posted by:trailing wife

#5 I thought the judge was supposed to be a legal expert, not a medical expert.

If the legislature passes a law that does not contradict either the Alabama constitution nor the American constitution, by what right does a judge strike it down?

Posted by: Tom 2022-05-15 15:33

#4 The Founders knew human nature is flawed. They did not imagine perverts might wind up lobbying like all other interest groups.

Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-05-15 09:39

#3 I am at a loss to see any way out of this mess w/o a new constituion, ie a new us govt. We need to start 'offing' these radicals or re-patriating them but we cannot live under their laws. we need a penumbra-less constitution.

Posted by: irish rage boy 2022-05-15 09:33

#2 Children are not adults - they can not buy tobacco or alcohol, they can not vote, they can not 'bear arms', they have a separate judicial system of punishment. It's all for a reason. They can not choose.

Our government has turned into one big Rothingham with government officials and 'professional associations' protecting grooming.

Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-05-15 07:00

#1 We are now in an era where "accepted" medical standards are unacceptable and where medical "authorities" have no credibility left.

Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 2022-05-15 01:41

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