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April 27 (UPI) -- The Justice Department is stepping in to block a Tennessee law that bans "critically, medically necessary" youth transgender care. The department filed a complaint Wednesday, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Nashville Division, to challenge Tennessee's recently enacted law that "denies medical care to youth based solely on who they are."
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The complaint specifically challenges Tennessee Senate Bill 1, which was signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee last month and bans certain care for transgender minors, because it violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
The department also asked the court Wednesday to issue an immediate order to keep the law from going into effect on July 1.
"Tennessee is committed to protecting children from permanent, life-altering decisions," Lee said in a statement Wednesday. "This is federal overreach at its worst, and we will work with Attorney General [Jonathan] Skrmetti to push back in court and stand up for children."
"No person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
"The right to consider your health and medically approved treatment options with your family and doctors is a right that everyone should have, including transgender children, who are especially vulnerable to serious risks of depression, anxiety and suicide," Clarke said.
Tennessee's law would ban healthcare, both surgical and pharmaceutical, such as puberty blockers that "treat a physical or chemical abnormality present in a minor that is inconsistent with the normal development of a human being of the minor's sex."
The law expresses concerns over long-term outcomes and questions whether minors are able to make such consequential decisions.
Punishment for violating the law could result in civil financial penalties for healthcare providers.
"Doctors, parents or anyone else who provides or offers to provide the prohibited care faces the possibility of civil suits for 30 years and other sanctions," the department said.
Gender-affirming care that began before July 1 would not be considered a violation, provided a treating physician certifies that ending the procedure would be harmful to the minor.
"SB1 violates the constitutional rights of some of Tennessee's most vulnerable citizens," said U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee.
"Left unchallenged, it would prohibit transgender children from receiving health care that their medical providers and their parents have determined to be medically necessary," Leventis said.
"In doing so, the law seeks to substitute the judgment of trained medical professionals and parents with that of elected officials and codifies discrimination against children who already face far too many obstacles."
