The AAMC joined the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 20 other health organizations in an appellate amicus brief focused on ensuring that all adolescents, including those with gender dysphoria, receive the optimal medical and mental health care they need.
The brief, filed in the Montana Supreme Court on April 11, urges the court to affirm the lower court’s preliminary injunction in Van Garderen v. Montana. The case involves S.B. 99, a law that effectively bans health care providers from providing patients under 18 with medically necessary treatments for gender dysphoria. The law defines the provision of such care as professional misconduct, prohibits the use of public funds for such treatments, and subjects health care providers to at least a one year suspension and to private actions for damages.
The brief provides background on gender identity and gender dysphoria. It details the professionally accepted medical guidelines for treating adolescents with gender dysphoria, the scientifically rigorous process by which the guidelines were developed, and the evidence that gender-affirming care is effective and saves lives. Because the brief focuses primarily on adolescents, it does not discuss surgeries that are typically available to transgender adults.
- Washington Highlights