Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, joined by a coalition of 21 attorneys general, recently lodged a brief challenging Oklahoma's Senate Bill 613. This bill restricts transgender youth's access to gender-affirming healthcare. The lawsuit, Poe v. Drummond, seeks to block this law, arguing that it is discriminatory and infringes on the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution according to the Illinois Attorney General News.
The plaintiffs, after a district court had denied their motion for a preliminary injunction against SB 613, first filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Raoul and the coalition presented an amicus brief on November 16, supporting the plaintiffs' claim that the denial of gender-affirming healthcare for transgender people seriously affects their physical and mental well-being.
Gender dysphoria, which is a condition that arises when one's gender identity mismatches with their assigned sex, affects a significant number of transgender teens. Major consequences of this condition include substantial distress, fatigue, decreased social functioning, substance misuse, and a higher risk of suicide—nine times that of the general U.S. population, particularly among transgender youth as per the coalition's amicus brief.
Oklahoma's Senate Bill 613 seeks to significantly restrict access to hormone therapy and puberty blocker treatments that are vital in dealing with gender dysphoria for transgender youth. The attorneys general, in their brief, argue that Oklahoma's law fails to satisfy rigorous scrutiny because a total medical care prohibition is not substantially related to the interests asserted by Oklahoma.
