By now you may have heard the news out of Idaho. On April 15th, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state of Idaho to begin enforcing its medically necessary care ban for transgender youth against everyone except the plaintiffs in the case.
We aren’t going to sugarcoat the news. This is a terrible outcome for the people of Idaho. But we also want to be clear about what this partial stay doesn’t do.
First, the Supreme Court’s partial stay in Idaho doesn’t end the case. Our friends at the ACLU and ACLU of Idaho are still challenging the law via the case Poe v. Labrador, and they still have a chance to defeat Idaho’s trans healthcare ban entirely.
Second, the Supreme Court’s partial stay in Idaho doesn’t bolster the case of anti-trans lawmakers here in South Carolina or anywhere else. In fact, the court’s order didn’t discuss the constitutionality of the ban at all.
Third, the partial stay in Idaho is not a forecast of what’s to come. The court did not indicate that it is going to rule in favor of the state or that it is going to take up the case at all.
Here in South Carolina, we are still fighting tooth and nail to stop House Bill 4624, our state’s own version of a trans healthcare ban for minors. It is not law yet. Keep calling and writing to your state senators, and find more ways to take action at SouthCarolinaUnited.org. You can use this form to look up and write to your state senator:
Please stay with us, and don’t give up. While we breathe, we hope.
For more information on Poe v. Labrador, see the national ACLU website.
