Alabama law banning transgender medication challenged in two lawsuits
CBSN
Families with transgender teens sued the state of Alabama in federal court on Monday to overturn a law that makes it a crime for doctors to treat trans youth under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to help affirm their gender identity.
The two lawsuits — one on behalf of two families and another on behalf of two families and the physicians who treat their children — pose legal challenges to legislation signed into law Friday by Republican Governor Kay Ivey.
"Transgender youth are a part of Alabama, and they deserve the same privacy, access to treatment, and data-driven health care from trained medical professionals as any other Alabamian," Tish Gotell Faulks, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, said in a statement. Faulks added that lawmakers are using children as, "political pawns for their reelection campaigns." Ivey and legislators face primaries next month.
Washington — Former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz is meeting with senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as he seeks to shore up support for his nomination for attorney general amid calls for the House Ethics Committee to release a report on allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.