The Montana Supreme Court upheld an injunction on the Montana transgender youth care ban (SB 99) yesterday, December 11, 2024, ruling that the ban violates the Montana State Constitution.
The Montana law, SB 99, passed in 2023, was enjoined in September 2023. Because of the injunction, youth in Montana have been able to get gender affirming care. Thanks to this ruling by the Montana Supreme Court, youth will continue to be able to get gender affirming care. This decision only applies to Montana, and the Montana Supreme Court was the first state supreme court to rule in favor of access to care for youth. Lower state courts and some federal courts have also ruled in favor of access.
For more information on the block on SB 99:
- Read the decision.
- NOTE – both the ACLU press release and LawDork’s analysis mention the US Supreme Court oral hearings in US vs. Skrmetti, and LawDork mentions the recent ban on blockers in the UK. Beware if these are difficult topics for you.
- Read the ACLU’s December 11, 2024 press release.
- Read LawDork’s analysis .
Montana’s State Constitution Has Strong Privacy Rights
The Montana Supreme Court ruled that SB 99 violates the strong rights to privacy granted to Montanans by their state constitution. The case also included argument that SB 99 violated the right to equal protection, but the judges did not include that in the decision. Read LawDork’s analysis for more in-depth information and a discussion of a concurring opinion issued by two of the judges chastising the court for avoiding a decision based on equal rights.
As much as we would love to see a positive ruling on equal rights – after all, bans on medical care do deprive individuals of their rights under equal protection, not just under privacy – we’ll take it.
Today, we are celebrating with Montana youth and their families and medical care teams. We thank Montana for their strong privacy protections and their acknowledgement that decisions about medical care for youth are between the patient, their families, and their care teams.
