The lawsuit seeks to declare the law unconstitutional under the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
A lawsuit has been filed in the South Central District court, seeking to overturn a law that bans “gender affirming” health care for transgender children.
The law was passed in the 2023 Legislature. It makes it a misdemeanor for a doctor to prescribe medication such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers to transgender children – and it’s punishable by up to 360 days in jail, as well as $3,000 in fines. The group Gender Justice said these treatments are available for other children — but not for transgender children.
"Based on nothing more than unfounded fears and their own political agenda, state lawmakers have singled out a small group of North Dakota kids for unequal treatment under the law, simply because they are transgender, denying them widely used, life-saving care, " said Gender Justice state director Christina Sanbor. "That care remains available to other North Dakota youth."
The plaintiffs include three North Dakota families with transgender children
"It has hurt me all over again to know that the lawmakers who have banned that health care do not want this for me, and want to take it away from me and every other transgender and binary kid, who wants to be left alone, and to live our lives in peace," said 12-year-old Tate Dolney of Fargo, part of one of those families.
The plaintiffs want the district court to issue a preliminary injunction, while the case is pending – and they seek a permanent ban.
