On Wednesday, a Montana state judge temporarily blocked a state law that would have implemented a ban on gender-affirming care for minors starting on Sunday.
The decision was made as they waited for a lawsuit that patients and medical professionals filed to proceed. In his 47-page ruling, Judge Jason Marks wrote that the plaintiffs were able to demonstrate that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm if the state law goes into effect.
Montana's Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
The Montana judge wrote that the record of the legislative debate over the bill was "replete with animus toward transgender persons." He added that it simply mischaracterized the nature of the treatments. The cases included lawmakers' statements that conveyed "personal, moral, or religious disapproval of gender transition.
Marks, who previously served as a prosecutor and a public defender, was appointed to his current role in 2019 by Steve Bullock, the former Democratic governor of the state. Montana quickly became a flashpoint in the debate over transgender rights after Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the first openly transgender woman elected to the State Legislature, was barred from the House floor over a speech, as per the New York Times.
Her remarks included warning colleagues that they would have "blood on your hands" if they passed the controversial measure. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte supported the ban and said it protects children in the state from permanent, life-altering medical procedures until they are mature enough to make such serious health decisions.
Three Montana families with transgender children and two medical professionals filed a lawsuit in July in Missoula District Court. They asserted that the state law infringed on several protections guaranteed by the State Constitution. These are the right to equal protection under the law, the right of parents to make decisions about their children's medical care, and the right to privacy.
Additionally, the attorney general's office has maintained that lawmakers are within their right to ban a field of medicine that they regard as experimental and dangerous. A more sensible approach is known as "watchful waiting," which includes psychotherapy but not medical interventions that some people later said they regretted taking.
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Temporary Block of the State Law
Judge Marks noted that the same Republican-controlled legislature previously passed a law that said patients, including minors, have a right to receive treatment with experimental drugs as long as a health care provider recommends it and that they give their consent to the procedure, according to Yahoo News.
The Montana judge added that he could only conclude the legislature's stated intent in passing the law was "disingenuous" and said that it seemed that the purpose was to ban an outcome deemed undesirable by the Montana Legislature but disguised as protection of minors.
The controversial law in question is known as SB 99 or the "Youth Health Protection Act." It would ban puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatment, and transgender surgical procedures for minors with gender dysphoria. A spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Emilee Cantrell, said they would continue to fight to protect the state's children, according to Fox News.
