Montana judge finds transgender care ban unconstitutional

Jessica_Rose · May 14, 2025, 10:27:09 AM

Montana judge finds transgender care ban unconstitutional

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/montana-judge-finds-transgender-care-ban-unconstitutional/ar-AA1ELROs?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=5c75476a3166448ee0df7ce7ed5ba04f&ei=112

Story by MARA SILVERS (14 May 2025)

A state district court judge in Missoula on Tuesday ruled that a 2023 state law banning many gender transition-related medical services for transgender minors is unconstitutional, prohibiting its enforcement.

The 59-page ruling from district court Judge Jason Marks found that Senate Bill 99, backed by Republicans largely along party lines during the legislative session two years ago, violates the Montana Constitution's rights to privacy, equal protection and free speech.

All parties agreed that the banned treatments, like all medical services, pose some degree of risk to patients, the judge found. But allowing the state to interfere in medical decisions because of the presence of any risk would be irrational, Marks noted. Similarly, he dismissed the state's arguments that some medical professionals disagree about the proper course of care for gender dysphoria.

"If some disagreement among medical professionals were enough to create a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk, every medical treatment would ... be subject to state interference," he ruled.

The decision referenced a long history of Montana court rulings supporting bodily autonomy and privacy in medical decision-making, many of which arose from litigation about abortion restrictions. Those rulings created and have reinforced a high bar for the state to interfere with medical care.

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Montana judge finds transgender care ban unconstitutional

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