WASHINGTON — Calling the procedures “medically necessary,” the U.S. Justice Department has filed an intervention to an existing lawsuit challenging an Alabama law that prohibits the use of puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones on “transgender” youth, as well as operations removing healthy body parts.
“This lawsuit challenges a state statute that denies necessary medical care to children based solely on who they are,” the complaint states. “[The ban] discriminates on the basis of both sex and transgender status in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
Senate Bill (S.B.) 184, also known as the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey on April 8. It defines sex as “the biological state of being female or male, based on sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles, … genetically encoded into a person at the moment of conception, [which] … cannot be changed.”
The bill, presented in the legislature earlier this year by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, and Rep. Wes Allen, R-Troy, states that while some may experience psychological distress due to a discordance between their biological sex and their inclinations, the inner turmoil is subject to change. It expresses concern over the lifelong effects of puberty blockers and other such “treatments” on minors.
“Minors, and often their parents, are unable to comprehend and fully appreciate the risk and life implications, including permanent sterility, that result from the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures,” the law states.
It argues that these practices do not eradicate the person’s suffering, as they do not solve the underlying issue, and that youth are “incapable of comprehending the negative implications and life-course difficulties attending to these interventions.”
S.B. 184 therefore bans the procedures on youth under the age of 19, criminalizing the act as a class C felony.
In April, the parents of two “transgender” minors filed suit, along with two doctors who support the procedures. A new suit soon arose, which included the parents of a preteen and three teenagers, along with Paul Eknes-Tucker, who leads Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Birmingham.
“As a minister, I counsel parents with transgender children about how best to love and support their children. Under SB 184, those conversations now come with a risk of criminal prosecution,” Eknes-Tucker remarked in a statement, according to the Alabama Political Reporter. “This dangerous law is an unthinkable infringement on parental rights and the freedom of pastors and other faith leaders to counsel their own parishioners.”
The Biden administration has now chosen to file an intervention in the suit, to add its voice to those who oppose the law. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division had sent a letter to all 50 state attorneys general on March 31 to assert that policies and laws prohibiting so-called “gender-affirming care” violate federal protections and may give rise to legal action.
However, the State of Alabama intends to hold firm in its stance, as Attorney General Steve Marshall remarked in a statement, “The Biden administration has chosen to prioritize leftist politics at the expense of Alabama’s children. As we will show in this case, DOJ’s assertion that these treatments are ‘medically necessary’ is ideologically-driven disinformation. The science and common sense are on Alabama’s side. We will win this fight to protect our children.”
A hearing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Liles Burke on May 5.
In a recent video commentary posted to the Answers in Genesis YouTube page, speaker and author Bryan Osborne outlined why the Biden administration’s spin on gender confusion is unbiblical.
“He’s calling those who disagree with him intolerant and bigoted when, in fact, he’s being intolerant and bigoted towards those who disagree with his point of view,” he said, responding to Biden’s remarks for the “Transgender Day of Visibility.” “What is actually hateful is to lead someone down the path of a lie, especially a child, that leads to destruction.”
Osborne noted that all of humanity is broken due to our sin nature inherited from Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22).
“Our natural inclinations are not necessarily good because they can be wrapped up in our sin,” he explained, providing examples of wrongful behaviors that may be driven by predisposition or emotion. “Encouraging people to follow those sinful inclination leads them down a path of destruction and ruin and brokenness in this life and eternity.”
It is most loving to tell those bound by sin the truth of God’s word, Osborne stated, for God Himself is love.
“Bibically, love is connected to who God is. Truth and love both come from God. You cannot separate God’s love from His truth. So anything not in line with God’s word and His truth is not loving,” Osborne continued. “Sin is sin no matter how matter we feel about it.”
“[T]hat’s why it’s such good news that we have a salvation from our sin,” he joyed. “The solution for all of us is the same. It is found in Christ. … The Bible calls us to repent of our sin and put our faith in Christ, to submit to Him, and in Him we find our hope and our identity.”
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