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Supreme Court allows Idaho to enforce ban on sex change butchery on children

East Idaho News reports:

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Idaho's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors may go into effect, overruling a lower court while the long-term constitutionality of the state's law is still being litigated.

Idaho Attorney General Ra�l Labrador asked the high court to allow the ban to go into effect in February, after a federal judge in Idaho temporarily paused the law in December. Judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently denied Labrador's request that they overrule the lower court judge, which led him to appeal to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court.

On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect while a lawsuit works its way through the legal system. The court's three liberal judges dissented with the decision.

Idaho's law makes it a felony to provide puberty blockers, hormone treatments or transition-related surgeries to children.

While many major medical organizations recommend hormone treatments and other health care for minors with gender dysphoria, conservatives in states around the country have pushed to ban the care.

The ruling on Wednesday allows the two Idaho transgender teenagers who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit to continue receiving care, but will prohibit minors not part of the lawsuit from doing so in Idaho.

"I've witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of drugs and procedures used on children with gender dysphoria," Labrador said in a statement.

The Republican attorney general said people with gender dysphoria deserve support and medical care "rooted in biological reality."

"Denying the basic truth that boys and girls are biologically different hurts our kids," he said.

REUTERS REPORTS:

April 15 (Reuters) - The conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let a Republican-backed law in Idaho that criminalizes gender-affirming care for transgender minors broadly take effect after a federal judge blocked it as unconstitutional.
The court granted Republican Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador's request to narrow a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill, who ruled that the law violated the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law, while the state pursues an appeal.
The Supreme Court's order allows the state to enforce the ban against everyone except the plaintiffs who challenged it.

Five of the court's six conservative justices concurred with the decision to grant Labrador's request. Its three liberal justices dissented. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts did not publicly indicate how he voted.

Photo Credit: Public Advocate Amy Comey Barrett Singers