Litigating the Future of Youth’s Access to Gender-Affirming Care

Authors

Sophia Ureta-Fulan

Abstract

Youth should challenge limitations and prohibitions to their pursuit of gender-affirming care under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (EPC). Executive orders in several states have severely limited or prohibited youths’ ability to pursue gender-affirming care. These legal schemes and policies restrict access to gender-affirming care in violation of the ADA and the EPC. This paper discusses the need for gender-affirming care, the policy landscape in the United States restricting youths’ access to gender-affirming, evaluates arguments to expand the ADA to include coverage of gender dysphoria, and explores potential EPC challenges to state restrictions on such care. This litigation strategy analysis will provide advocates with potential avenues to challenge anti-trans laws and policies to protect and expand youths’ access to gender-affirming care in the United States.

Recommended Citation

Sophia Ureta-Fulan, Litigating the Future of Youth’s Access to Gender-Affirming Care, 51 Hastings Const. L.Q. 283 (2024).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol51/iss2/6