On April 28, 2022, Yale Law School, the Yale School of Medicine’s Child Study Center and Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, and the University of Texas Southwestern published a report refuting the scientific claims informing measures in Alabama that target gender-affirming medical care.
On April 7, 2022, Alabama Governor Ivey signed S.B. 184, which imposes felony penalties on those who provide certain gender-affirming medical care to someone under the age of 19. The scientific basis for that action is called into question in the 2022 report, entitled “Biased Science: The Texas and Alabama Measures Criminalizing Medical Treatment for Transgender Children and Adolescents Rely on Inaccurate and Misleading Scientific Statements.” The report concluded that the assertions of medical fact in support of the Alabama law are “riddled with errors, calling into question the scientific foundations of the law.” False claims highlighted in the report include the claim that current medical standards authorize the surgical sterilization of transgender children and adolescents, the omission of the fact that gender-affirming care significantly improves mental health outcomes, and claims of exaggerated risks of gender-affirming drug therapy.