Summary
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Indiana’s law banning puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors, aligning with similar laws in 26 GOP-led states.
Plaintiffs argued the law discriminates based on sex and interferes with parental rights to direct medical treatment for their children, but the 2-1 ruling dismissed these claims.
The court stated the law applies equally to all minors and parents don’t have unrestricted rights to medical treatments.
This decision comes as the Supreme Court prepares to review a similar Tennessee case, potentially setting a nationwide precedent.
The frustrating part of all of this is that it is true that puberty blockers aren’t approved by the FDA for delaying puberty for gender affirming treatments, but it is used anyway as an off-label use. Criticism of off-label uses of pharmaceuticals is a perfectly valid concern to have.
But if you actually had this concern in good faith, you would be putting pressure on the FDA to investigate this use of puberty blockers directly and make a call or whether or not this is an approved use. You would be demanding that the FDA fill in the gaps in their knowledge, and only allow this use of puberty blockers if there was no harm found.
Going straight to the legislature and banning it outright is underhanded as shit. The only reason to do that is because you know that the FDA has no reason to disapprove of this use, and you want to medically oppress trans people regardless of what the science actually says.
It’s transphobic bullshit, and anyone telling you that their concern is the safety and welfare of children is lying to you, because if that were true they would act like it.
Like gender identity interacts with the chemistry of the drug somehow? Is it safe if the kid is cis and it is not when the kid is trans? Is there some (well) materialism in gender identity or is this philosophical dualism of some sort?
The prescribed use is to suppress the development of sex features by blocking sex hormones, so how is it different?
This is just fear mongering.