Prohibition of Treatment Act transgender youth came into force in Alabama despite opposition both from parents and from human rights activists.
The law that was passed by Alabama Republican-controlled legislature in Aprilcame into force on Sunday, making the southeastern state the first in the U.S. to impose such a ban on treating transgender youth.
It provides for criminal liability for any gender-based treatment of trans-youth under the age of 19, and for those convicted of violating the Compassionate and Protect Vulnerable Children Act, a 10-year prison sentence is possible.
While a similar law has been approved by lawmakers Arkansas was temporarily blocked last year by a federal court, a similar lawsuit filed on behalf of four Alabama families failed to stop a law that became a reality on Sunday.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Liles Burke and his staff will do “nothing else” but work on a case that asks the court to issue an order blocking the implementation of Alabama’s law against trans-transport.
Among those who signed the lawsuit are twenty-three medical and mental health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“Families are afraid,” said Dr. Marisa Ladinski, a pediatrician who specializes in treating children with gender. “How can you not feel that the floor has been pulled out from under you?”
“People were focused on [Roev Wade]but Alabama’s ban on medical care for transgender children has just come into effect, despite opposition from all relevant medical organizations, “wrote Jack Turban, a child psychiatrist at Stanford University, on Twitter.
He added: “We have reached the end of a civilized nation.”
Ms Ladinski said she still hoped Mr Burke would grant the request for a ban.
Alabama’s law is the ultimate goal LGBT+ youth in the US, with Fr. parts of the states with most Republicans the introduction of a ban on trans-youth to play sports.
Meanwhile in Florida this year schools are banned from discussing LGBT + issues after implementation The “Don’t Tell Gays” bill.
According to the University of California, Los Angeles Williams Institute, only 0.7% of children between the ages of 13 and 17 identify themselves as transgender in the United States. While for adults the same figure is 0.6 percent of the population.
The trial is underway to block the implementation of Alabama law
(Getty Images)
However, the suicide rate among transgender people is particularly high, and for trans-youth the numbers are worse. research published in Art National Medical Library in 2020 found.
The study says that “data show that 82 percent of transgender people thought about murder, and 40 percent tried to commit suicide, with the highest number of suicides among transgender youth.”
Additional information The Associated Press.
If you are in the United States and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The hotline is a free, confidential hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
