Jan. 19, 2022
Carson City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney
General Aaron D. Ford joined a coalition of state attorneys general in support
of a challenge to an unconstitutional Arkansas law that prohibits
healthcare professionals from providing transgender teenagers with medically necessary care.
The coalition of 21 attorneys general filed an amicus brief
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit urging the court to affirm
a district court judgment that blocked enforcement of Arkansas Act 626, the
“Save Adolescents from Experimentation” or SAFE Act. Despite medical consensus
that gender-affirming care has a positive impact on adolescents with
gender dysphoria, the law seeks to prohibit physicians and other healthcare
providers from referring or providing this treatment to minors.
“We must protect our children from discriminatory laws that bar
access to necessary, gender-affirming health care,” said AG Ford. “Over
and over again, evidence has shown that denying transgender youth access to
gender-affirming care has a detrimental effect to their mental health and
quality of life.”
On April 6, 2021, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 626,
which bans healthcare providers from providing gender-affirming
treatment to transgender teenagers and
even providing referrals for such treatment. Under the law, healthcare
providers who failed to comply could lose their professional license and be at risk
of professional discipline.
On July 21, 2021, a district court granted a motion for a
preliminary injunction blocking the law, and in August, the court enjoined the
Arkansas Attorney General’s Office from enforcing any provision of Act 626
during litigation of the case.
Arkansas is the only state with a law banning medical treatments
prescribed for gender transition. In today’s amicus brief, the attorneys
general explain that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Transgender people with gender dysphoria often suffer from severe
distress due to the stigma associated with their gender identity. Among
transgender people, there are higher rates of having serious thoughts of
suicide and actual attempts at suicide than the overall U.S. population. Those
risks are even higher among transgender youth. According to research cited in today’s brief, if
unaddressed, gender dysphoria can impact quality of life, cause fatigue and
trigger decreased social functioning, including reliance on drugs and alcohol
to cope with the impacts of discrimination, and lead to increased risk of HIV
and AIDS due to inadequate access to care.
A survey in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that for youth
under the age of 18, the use of gender-affirming hormone therapy was associated
with 39% lower odds of recent depression and 38% lower odds of attempting
suicide in the past year compared to youth who wanted but did not receive such
therapy.
In today’s brief, the attorneys general argue that access to
gender-affirming healthcare must be protected, as it adheres to well-accepted
medical standards.
In Nevada, laws and regulations ensure transgender patients are
not denied or limited coverage for ordinarily available healthcare. Laws in
Nevada prevent health insurance discrimination based on sexual orientation and
gender identity; extend the state Medicaid policy to cover health care related
to gender transition; and provide transition-related health care in state
employee health benefits.
In filing today’s amicus brief, Attorney General Ford joined the
attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii,
Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and
the District of Columbia.
A copy of the amicus brief is attached.