Alabama became the first state to ban lifesaving gender-affirming care for transgender youth under the age of 19, when Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed the so-called “Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act” into law on Friday.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center have signed two lawsuits representing families and healthcare professionals to block the ban before the law goes into effect on May 8th.

“I know that I am a girl and I always have been. Even before I learned the word ‘transgender’ or met other trans people, I knew myself. I did not choose to experience bullying and discrimination because I am transgender. I chose to be proud of who I am. The possibility of losing access to my medical care because of this law causes me deep anxiety. I would not feel like myself anymore if this lifesaving medication was criminalized,” ACLU Plaintiff 15-year-old H.W., whose healthcare will be banned under this law, said in a statement.

How is it acceptable to strip a child’s autonomy by pushing them onto a battleground where they find they’re being forced to lose themself? How do you heal the sickness that comes from being within yourself when you are not able to control becoming someone you’re not? How many times do trans folks need to repeat how the constant discomfort of navigating life as one’s incomplete self can translate into the physical exhaustion of a vortex that steals the joy and meaning in every interaction with the world?

Alabama’s law imposes 10 years of imprisonment onto doctors and individuals providing or accessing gender-affirming care and strip’s a child’s autonomy by falsley claiming that the child will ‘grow’ out of being transgender. It also makes schools unsafe spaces by requiring staff to ‘out’ trans youth to parents who could be non-supportive.

Contrary to the fear-mongering in these anti-trans bills that label gender-affirming care as “experimental”, leading professional medical associations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association recognize this care as safe and lifesaving.

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