Texas Is Now the Most Populous State With a Trans Health Care Ban: Here’s the Full List

As of Friday, Texas became the most populous state to ban gender-affirming health care for minors with gender dysphoria.

The Texas Supreme Court denied a request for a temporary halt to the state’s new law prohibiting care for transgender young people on Thursday, allowing it to take effect Friday, CNN reports.

Significant U.S. medical associations, such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support and recommend gender-affirming care, including counseling, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy. Critics say Republicans in Texas decided to limit the treatment available to those suffering by stepping into the private affairs of families and doctors.

Exceptions apply to intersex patients and minors receiving gender-affirming care before June 1. However, these patients will be required to stop taking their medications. Providers of such care who violate the law may lose their licenses.

In recent legislative sessions, several Republican-led states passed laws prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors, which have been challenged nationwide.

A district court judge had imposed a stay on the law, and the court decided not to reinstate it and not to address any of the arguments raised by advocacy groups seeking temporary injunctions.

Which states have bans on trans health care for kids?

Texans join 21 other states restricting gender-affirming care, including Missouri, which just banned it.

Five Texas families, three medical professionals and two LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit challenging S.B. 14 in the middle of July with the help of Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and the Transgender Law Center.

“[The] cruel ruling places Texas’ transgender youth, and the families and medical professionals who love and care for them, directly in harm’s way,” a statement from Lambda Legal on behalf of the legal advisers read. “The district court heard two days of testimony, weighed the evidence, and made a reasoned and thoughtful determination that the ban likely violated the Texas Constitution and thus should be delayed while the full case plays out in court. Inexplicably, the Texas Supreme Court disagreed, and transgender Texas youth and their families are forced to confront the start of the school year fearful of what awaits them.”

After the ruling, the group committed to continuing its advocacy.

“The district court clearly articulated the ways in which S.B. 14 likely violates the Texas Constitution by infringing upon the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children, infringing upon Texas physicians’ right of occupational freedom, and discriminating against transgender adolescents with gender dysphoria because of their sex, sex stereotypes, and transgender status. We couldn’t agree more and look forward to continuing this fight,” the statement concluded.

Additional bans on gender-affirming care have been passed in North Carolina, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, West Virginia, Indiana, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida.