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.
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I was a transgender child. Going through forced puberty led me to attempt suicide at 14 15 and 18. Parts of my body are covered in self-harm scars due in large part to the utter repulsion I felt at the effects of testosterone on my body. I became an alcoholic at 16, and an oxycontin addict by the time I was 20. The day my voice cracked was one of the worst days of my entire life. For reference I started counseling when I was 13. I was receiving therapy throughout all of this.
I am extremely lucky to be alive. I have had to spend tens of thousands of dollars undoing the harm testosterone did to me and some things I can never fully undo. I could have avoided all of this if I had had access to puberty blockers. If I had been offered puberty blockers, I would have taken them without a thought, and I categorically would not have regretted them. I knew I wanted to be a girl when I was 4. I knew that I didn’t want to go through testosterone puberty when I was in grade 4, and they taught us what that was.
Is forcing us to go through what I went through humane? When a real treatment exists right there? When studies show a less than 1% rate of regret for gender affirmative care for minors? Do you realize you are forcing children to go through what I went through? Do you realize not every child will survive? Do you realize you’re supporting causes that kill children? For no fucking reason? Because you don’t fucking understand what we go through and have no fucking interest in listening to us? How about asking trans kids what they fucking need? How about asking trans adults what being a trans child was like for them? No you have no fucking interest in any of that.
Many hugs friend. I remember the immense feelings of disgust, confusion, and frustration when I started bleeding at 10 years old and began developing breasts. I didn’t want any of that. It felt so unnatural. I suffered a lot of health problems from hitting puberty so early, and ironically puberty blockers would have been an effective treatment but they either didn’t exist or simply weren’t offered back in those days.
I am sorry you had to go through all of that and I, for one, am very glad you’re still with us and fighting the good fight.
“I’m not going to get political but”
“Gets political”
“Spouts off right wing talking points”
“Demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of the transition process”
I did not say I am not going to. the point of that statement is to point out how abnormal it is for me to weigh in on a political issue and how egregious I believe this to be, and I absolutely do not care if it is right left up or down, this should not be politicized, it is human experimentation.
Hi, I’m a trans woman and I just wanna say that the name you chose for yourself suits you really well well!
K. That is a character assassination. Not a necessary argument for people with valid arguments.
Character assassination?
Did your parents name you “stupidcasey?”
Hey, I just like how you picked out your name. It’s a compliment. Why do you gotta be so toxic about yourself? Is it the brain full of hatred? I bet it’s the brain full of hatred.
Best of luck with *gestures at everything*.
Consider possibly not making trans peoples’ lives harder, yeah? Don’t contribute to that.
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Hey, chum, I’m just trying to be uplifting, you wanna come at me with fights, I’m trying to give you a compliment. No wonder you’re not getting laid if you try to fight every woman who says something nice about you.
And I don’t even know the point of that one is. Except to call me a virgin? Are you saying that is a bad thing? Not very politically correct.
You know damn well this isn’t about surgery. It’s about hormones, and it says so right there in the summary. You didn’t even have to click the link. Nobody is doing breast implants on trans minors (only on cis minors, which is perfectly fine for some reason).
Forcing a trans kid to go through the wrong puberty even though they know they are trans is extremely traumatic. It’s life ruining. It alters the voice, the shape of the torso, the shape of the face, and facial and body hair in ways that either can’t be fixed at all, or can only be fixed with expensive surgeries later on.
And if you want people to be absolutely sure about their status before going on hormone replacement therapy, then that is exactly what puberty blockers are for. Leuprorelin prevents puberty so that the kid can figure themself out for a year or two, and then make sure they go through the correct puberty. Even if they decide not to be transgender in the end, they can just go off leuprorelin and start puberty.
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You’re against things that alter kids minds and bodies? Like puberty? Well luckily there’s a way to stop that! Puberty blockers, which have been safely used for decades and are considered a medical necessity by WPATH as well as many other health organizations!
Why are we debating this at all, shouldn’t it be the decision of the parents? You don’t agree, that’s fine, you can tell your kids no. If someone else looks at the evidence and believes it’s true, and believes this is hugely beneficial to their kid, why should the government have a say in their kid’s medical treatment?
This is a separate topic, and a big fucking no. You assume parents actually know what’s best for their kids and want that, but look around, most of these people voting for these bans are parents as well.
Parents can’t and shouldn’t be blindly trusted.
And if the parent thinks otherwise where it is legal?
Kids aren’t the parents’ property.
Obviously it would only be if the doctors and parents approved together. Point being, the government is stepping in and overriding my parental rights and my doctor’s recommendation just because someone else does not agree.
And I don’t see parents voting for bans, none of these have been initiatives. These are law makers.
No it should not be the decision of the parents, it should be the decision of the patient and their doctors.
Yes, definitely agree it should require the doctor to approve as well, and the child should also consent. The point is that the government is interfering with both parents and doctors by stepping in. Feels very much like your body, my choice here.
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We have this in every country. In America it’s called the American Medical Association. It’s been invented already. There’s even specific subgroups and organizations of doctors and such that advocate for people who have particular problems and troubles, like the Multiple Sclerosis Research Society, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and the American Stroke Organization. These things exist and they help people.
But you think I’m an AI, don’tcha? I’m not even snidely insulting you in this one. I’m trying to help in good faith.
Then again, you’re not here in good faith, so what can I do?
(The answer is to keep this here in case anyone is reading in good faith, and they can benefit from this comment. Guess I’m not really writing about you at all.)
By politically isolated I’m going to assume you just mean conversion therapists who will try to convince children they are not gay or trans. Because if you’re not giving them affirmative care and listening to them the alternative is denying them.
Conversion therapy kills people. That’s what it does. That’s all it does. It is NOT possible to stop someone from being gay or trans. It has never been shown to be possible in any fucking way. Conversion therapy does not work, has never worked, and is equivalent in mental distress to severe psychological torture. It frequently involves physical and sexual assault. It involves emotional abuse and manipulation. All in service of forcing us to conform. This is the alternative. If you’re against affirmative care this is what you’re for. Think about telling these people that what happened to them was right. Think about going to the lived ones of people who took their lives while undergoing conversion therapy. Think about telling them that what happened is right and should be legal. This is what you’re advocating for. This is the side that you’re on.
This is exactly why I am luck to have citizenship so we can emigrate to the UK. My daughter is queer (not trans, but they will come for all queer people eventually) and the UK is working to outlaw conversion therapy.
I wish I could take every queer person, especially every trans person, with us.
Going through the wrong puberty is also a life long decision with major consequences. Hope that helps!
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Holy shit you have absolutely no idea what the fuck you’re talking about, so please shut the fuck up about your uninformed personal opinions.
Puberty blockers only delay the onset of puberty until you stop taking them, at which point development resumes normally with far less downsides than the risk of developing undesired sex characteristics. So no, this is not “the same choice no matter if we ban or allow this.” The same choice would be starting actual sex hormones; puberty blockers are the middle ground here.
Banning puberty blockers is politically motivated actors putting their politics above people’s bodily autonomy and medical professionals’ ability to make medically informed decisions.
You’re flat out wrong that allowing doctors to prescribe puberty blockers would cause risk of greater suffering in such a way as to make it abundantly clear that you don’t know what those meds actually do.
You are a fucking moron. Username checks out.
I also have to wonder if this will make it so that kids who take puberty blockers for other reasons won’t be allowed to get them either.
Are we going to start seeing six-year-olds with breasts or facial hair?
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You don’t need to tell them to do that, they clearly already did before commenting. But then, so did you.