Texas Supreme Court Upholds State’s Ban on Sex Changes for Minors

The Texas Supreme Court upheld on Friday the state’s ban on puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and other so-called gender-affirming care for children.

In an 8-1 ruling, the state’s Supreme Court rejected arguments from parents who claimed that a Texas law that went into effect in September 2023, went against their right to decide whether or not to seek out medical care for their children.

The Supreme Court wrote that lawmakers had “made a permissible, rational policy choice.”

“We conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children, particularly in light of the relative nascency of both gender dysphoria and its various modes of treatment and the Legislature’s express constitutional authority to regulate the practice of medicine,” the ruling says.

The Texas Supreme Court added in the ruling that the “statute does not unconstitutionally deprive parents of their rights or physicians or health care providers of an alleged property right in their medical licenses or claimed right to occupational freedom.”

In June 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed Senate Bill 14, which banned different types of transgender “medical interventions for children, including the likes of hormone therapy and puberty blockers” and surgeries.

At the end of August 2023, the Texas Supreme Court lifted a temporary injunction that had been issued after a Texas district judge ruled that the law not only violated the rights of transgender children but also violated the rights of doctors and medical professionals in the state.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the decision from the Supreme Court to uphold the ban and vowed that his office would “use every tool” at their disposal to “ensure that doctors and medical institutions follow the law.”

“Today, the Texas Supreme Court upheld SB 14, a law protecting children from dangerous gender confusion procedures by prohibiting puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and mutilative surgeries on minors,” Paxton wrote in a post on X. “We will always defend children in Texas from these irreversible procedures. My office will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that doctors and medical institutions follow the law.”

Texas became the 21st state to ban children from going through sex changes. Several states have enacted similar measures.

In January 2024, the Ohio Senate overrode the governor’s veto of a bill that protected children from “sex change drugs and procedures.” The bill also banned boys from competing in girls’ sporting events.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) signed a bill into law in March that banned “gender-reassignment” procedures from being performed on minor children.