Keeping Trans Kids SAFE: The Constitutionality of Prohibiting Access to Puberty Blockers
Journal
American University Law Review Forum
Volume
71
Abstract
In 2021, state legislatures introduced over 120 anti-transgender bills, the highest number introduced in a single year in American history. As part of this onslaught, the Arkansas legislature passed Act 626 over the governor’s veto, a law that prevents transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming healthcare. This Comment uses Act 626 as a case study to analyze the constitutionality of legislation that denies transgender individuals access to healthcare. Specifically, this Comment argues that Act 626 is unconstitutional under Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence for two reasons. First, transgender individuals should be considered a quasi-suspect classification under Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause jurisprudence. Second, access to gender- affirming healthcare invokes the fundamental liberty interest in bodily autonomy under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause. Act 626 ultimately fails intermediate scrutiny analysis because it is not narrowly tailored to meet an important state interest.
Repository Citation
Beck Sigman,
Keeping Trans Kids SAFE: The Constitutionality of Prohibiting Access to Puberty Blockers,
71
(2022).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/stusch_lawrev/85