"Settled Law"

They tried this before and kept getting shot down in the courts but I guess that they found a friendly judge.

U.S. court allows state bans on gender-affirming care for adults in unprecedented ruling

While bans on trans youth’s care have been numerous in recent years, this is the first to restrict care for transgender adults.

The Advocate

Desiree Guerrero

Mar 11, 2026

On Tuesday, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals went a step further in the ongoing attacks on gender-affirming care for transgender individuals in this country.

While more than a dozen U.S. states currently prohibit or limit Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, the 4th Circuit became the first federal appeals court to enforce this type of law, according to a report by Reuters. The decision follows last year’s Supreme Court ruling in the United States v. Skrmetti case, which rejected a challenge to a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming treatment for minors.

They were emboldened by the courts so they are pushing to do the maximum harm to us! They don't care the harm they are doing to us... as long as it keeps their base energized!

The three judges on the panel — who’d all been appointed by Republican presidents (two by Trump and one by George Bush Sr.) -— had dissented in 2024 when the majority of the 4th Circuit declared the West Virginia law invalid. In the 35-page documentation of the ruling, the panel expressed similar justifications for the decision as they had in the 2024 case.

It is getting bad... when the laws are not ruled upon based on the Constitution rather than pat affiliation!

The specific types of surgeries that the West Virginia law seeks to remove from Medicaid coverage include altering physical characteristics in order to align with one's gender identity, including chest reconstruction, genital alteration, and facial procedures.

Republican West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey added that the state should not have to foot the bill for "unproven, non-essential medical procedures."

It is all based on lies! They darn well that the medical procedures saves lives! They know that we will seek medical treatment elsewhere! They know that trans healthcare saves lives... it saved my life!

It appears that they went judge shopping! Why West Virginia? Could it be possibly because the right leaning judges? Reuters reports that, 

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld West Virginia's ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgeries, the latest victory for Republican-led states seeking ​to curb the procedures amid an ongoing national battle over transgender rights.

In a unanimous ruling, opens new tab, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. ‌Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, overturned a judge's decision that the 2004 statute violated anti-discrimination protections under two federal laws as well as the U.S. Constitution's promise of equal protection under the law.

What they are trying to do is wiggle their argument to fit in with the U.S. v. Skrmetti Supreme Court ruling where Chief Justice Roberts wrote that these bans are not sex discrimination because they target a "procedure," not a "person." They also ruled that transgender status is not a "suspect class" (a group that gets special protection from the courts)!

Um... do the medical procedures apply to any other class of people? That is like where the Republicans say the Civil War was about state rights but the underlying cause was slavery! They medical treatment is gender neutral but the treatment is only for trans people. DUH!

"It is not irrational for a legislature to encourage citizens to appreciate their sex and not become disdainful of their sex by refusing ‌to fund ⁠experimental procedures that may have the opposite effect," Judge Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee, wrote for the court.

THAT'S A LIE!

Maybe the judge doesn't remember... Renee Richards? Christine Jorgensen? Lili Elbe? Gender Confirming Surgery has been around since the 1930s! It is not experimental... that is right out of the Republican propaganda handbook!

Pink News reported that,

Every single major medical organisation in the US support the use of gender-affirming care to help support trans adults. Numerous studies have similarly proven gender-affirming treatments are safe and effective.

In a post on social media, human genomics academic Dr Jey McCreight branded the ruling “complete nonsense scientifically,” saying it was based on “fascist eugenics, not biology.”

But instead it followed the Republican unscientific rhetoric!

The Full 4th Circuit had originally struck down the law in 2024, but was called upon by the Supreme Court to reconsider the case following its ruling on Tennessee’s law banning trans healthcare for under-18s. Judges will also consider a similar law from North Carolina.

It comes as US president Donald Trump, who appointed many of the judges responsible for the latest decision, continues to target medical institutions lawfully providing gender-affirming care in states where it remains legal.

Vote in November our lives depend upon us kicking the SOB out!