EDIT 4/15/24: The Supreme Court is allowing Idaho to enforce this ban while the case continues its journey through the Ninth Circuit Court. CNN article. Follow our Idaho State of the State blog for developments.
Federal judge Lynn Winmill has ruled that Idaho’s HB 71 violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and is unconstitutional. Read the ACLU’s press release. Both Erin Reed (Erin In The Morning,) and Chris Geidner (Law Dork) have published commentary on the ruling.
HB 71 was due to go into effect on January 1, 2024, banning gender affirming care for youth. With the injunction, Idaho youth will be able to start and to continue receiving care. Under HB 71, providers could have been charged with a felony and face up to ten years in prison.
The case, Poe v. Labrador, was heard in November.
We are thrilled, of course, as we, like Judge Winmill, believe that bans are unconstitutional. This case will likely be appealed and add to the growing number of cases making their way towards the Supreme Court.
In his ruling, Judge Winmill strongly protested against rulings that upheld bans on care:
Judge Winmill, from LawDork
Addressing the appeals courts’ rulings against the parental right claims to the contrary, Winmill wrote, “The Sixth and Eleventh Circuit’s framing of the fundamental right renders the Fourteenth Amendment largely meaningless.” Specifically, he continued, “If the right is narrowly defined as the right to seek a specific medical treatment, the entirety of modern medicine would fall outside of the scope of a parent’s right to control their children’s health care.”
QueerDoc is committed to providing gender affirming care, fighting against medical discrimination, and advocating against discriminatory laws – especially in the states where we practice.
We provide care in Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. We are accepting youth and adult new patients in ALL of our states. If you need to travel to access care, we partner with organizations that can get you, free of charge, from Point A in a ban state to Point B in a safe state for your telehealth appointment. Please see Getting Care At QueerDoc: Appointments and What The Heck Is The Legal Landscape Up To? for more information about our intake process.
