The Supreme Court has granted Idaho permission to enforce a 2023 law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, allowing physicians providing such care to be subjected to up to 10 years in prison. The decision reverses lower court rulings and is supported by the state's backers who believe it is necessary to protect children from medical treatments. Opponents argue that the law could lead to increased suicide rates among teens. Gender-affirming care is endorsed by major medical organizations, with at least 23 states having enacted laws restricting such care for transgender minors.
The Supreme Court granted an emergency request allowing Idaho to enforce a law banning gender-affirming health care for transgender teens, with exceptions for the two plaintiffs. The law prohibits puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for transgender minors. The court's conservative majority supported the law's enforcement, while the liberals dissented, citing concerns about constitutional violations and potential impact on transgender healthcare. Over 20 states have similar bans, and challenges to these laws are expected to reach the Supreme Court in the future.
Arkansas is appealing a federal judge's ruling that struck down the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors as unconstitutional, as the case moves closer to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ban, enacted in 2021, prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers, or surgery to anyone under 18. At least 24 states have similar laws facing legal challenges, with temporary blocks in place in Idaho and Montana. The ban is part of a larger debate on transgender rights, and medical groups like the American Medical Association oppose it.
Tennessee lawmakers are advancing a bill to criminalize adults who aid minors in accessing gender-affirming care without parental consent, similar to an anti-abortion trafficking proposal. Critics express concerns about broad applications that could restrict conversations and actions, with comparisons to Idaho's law on assisting minors with abortions. This move aligns with a broader trend in Republican-led states to restrict gender-affirming care for minors, contrasting with efforts in Democratically-led states to protect healthcare providers offering such services.
Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions, as well as gender-affirming care, for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks (in relation to violence and mental health), and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world.
A trans woman (short for transgender woman) is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their sex assigned at birth). Gender dysphoria may be treated with gender-affirming care.Gender-affirming care may include social or medical transition. Social transition may involve changes such as adopting a new name, hairstyle, clothing style, and/or set of pronouns associated with the individual's affirmed gender identity. A major component of medical transition for trans women is feminizing hormone therapy, which causes the development of female secondary sex characteristics (breasts, redistribution of body fat, lower waist–hip ratio, etc.). This, along with socially transitioning, and receiving desired gender-affirming surgeries can relieve the person of gender dysphoria. Like cisgender women, trans women may have any sexual orientation.Trans women face significant discrimination in many areas of life—including in employment and access to housing—and face physical and sexual violence and hate crimes, including from partners. In the United States, discrimination is particularly severe towards trans women who are members of a racial minority, who often face the intersection of transphobia and racism.The term transgender woman is not always interchangeable with transsexual woman, although the terms are often used interchangeably. Transgender is an umbrella term that includes different types of gender variant people (including transsexual people).
The legal status of gender-affirming surgery and gender-affirming hormone therapy varies by jurisdiction, often interacting with other facets of the legal status of transgender people. Key considerations include whether people are allowed to get such surgeries, at what ages they are allowed to if so, and whether surgeries are required in order for a gender transition to be legally recognized. As of 2007, the countries that perform the greatest number of gender-affirming surgeries are Thailand and Iran.
Gender-affirming surgery is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender. The phrase is most often associated with transgender health care and intersex medical interventions, although many such treatments are also pursued by cisgender and non-intersex individuals. It is also known as sex reassignment surgery, gender confirmation surgery, and several other names. Professional medical organizations have established Standards of Care, which apply before someone can apply for and receive reassignment surgery, including psychological evaluation, and a period of real-life experience living in the desired gender.Feminization surgeries are surgeries that result in anatomy that is typically gendered female, such as vaginoplasty, vulvoplasty and breast augmentation, while masculinization surgeries are those that result in anatomy that is typically gendered male, such as phalloplasty and breast reduction.In addition to gender-affirming surgery, patients may need to follow a lifelong course of masculinizing or feminizing hormone replacement therapy.Sweden became the first country in the world to allow transgender people to change their legal gender after "reassignment surgery" and provide free "reassignment" treatment in 1972. Singapore followed soon after in 1973, being the first in Asia.
Gender-affirming surgery for male-to-female transgender women or transfeminine non-binary people describes a variety of surgical procedures that alter the body to provide physical traits more comfortable and affirming to an individual's gender identity and overall functioning.Often used to refer to vaginoplasty, sex reassignment surgery can also more broadly refer to other gender-affirming procedures an individual may have, such as permanent reduction or removal of body or facial hair through laser hair removal or electrolysis, facial feminization surgery, tracheal shave, vulvoplasty, orchiectomy, voice surgery, or breast augmentation. Sex reassignment surgery is usually preceded by beginning feminizing hormone therapy. Some surgeries can reduce the need for hormone therapy.Gender-affirming surgeries for transgender women have taken place since the 16th century, though they became more notable in the 20th century. Most patients report greater quality of life and sexual health outcomes postoperatively.
Gender-affirming surgery for female-to-male transgender people includes a variety of surgical procedures that alter anatomical traits to provide physical traits more comfortable to the trans man's male identity and functioning.Often used to refer to phalloplasty, metoidoplasty, or vaginectomy, sex reassignment surgery can also more broadly refer to many procedures an individual may have, such as male chest reconstruction, hysterectomy, or oophorectomy.Gender-affirming surgery is usually preceded by beginning hormone treatment with testosterone.
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether the abortion pill mifepristone should remain on the market, with the focus on the FDA's drug approval process; the Biden administration is appealing lower court rulings that restricted access to the pill. The case involves Texas-based rulings that questioned the FDA's approval of mifepristone and concerns around loosened restrictions implemented in 2016, such as remote prescribing and extended usage up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. The pharmaceutical industry supports the FDA, warning against judicial interference in the drug approval process.
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments on limiting access to mifepristone, a key drug in medication abortions, which could have significant political and practical implications. Anti-abortion groups seek to restrict access while the administration and drug manufacturers advocate for maintaining access. The outcome, expected in early summer, may impact Congressional and White House races and the FDAs drug approval process. One resolution could aim to maintain access to mifepristone while avoiding politically sensitive aspects of the case.
FILE - Chad Daybell sits during a court hearing, Aug. 4, 2020, in St. Anthony, Idaho. The trial of Daybell, who is charged with the deaths of his wife and his girlfriends two youngest children, is set to begin in Idaho, serving as a second act in a bizarre case that has drawn worldwide attention and already resulted in a life sentence for the kids mother. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, Pool, File) FILE - Larry Woodcock speaks to media members at the Rexburg Standard Journal Newspaper in Rexburg, Idaho on Jan.
CBS News
Associated Press
NY Post
Washington Post
ABC News
ABC News
Yahoo! News
The Huffington Post
Claudia Aoraha
NPR
NBC
PANORA
PANORA
PANORA
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
PANORA
PANORA
PANORA