Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trans Patients Are Impacted As Drug Shortage Hits Hormone Therapy
Axios: Drug Shortages Squeeze Trans Patients' Access To Hormone Therapy
The worst drug shortage in a decade is disrupting gender-affirming care, as scarce supplies of injectable estrogen prevent some transgender women from obtaining hormone therapy. Shortages of cancer drugs and other life-saving medications have already forced doctors to develop workarounds. A lack of access to estrogen products can affect trans patients in different ways: putting some through early onset menopause, reversing certain physical changes from their transition or causing them to experience anxiety and depression. (Gonzalez, 7/21)
AP: Federal Judge Blocks Arizona Law Banning Transgender Athletes From Girls' Sports Teams
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Arizona from enforcing a law banning transgender girls from playing on girls' school sports teams. The judge in Tucson granted a preliminary injunction to allow processing of a lawsuit filed on behalf of two transgender girls against the state's “Save Women's Sports Act,” which was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year. (7/21)
AP: Kansas' Attorney General Wants To Keep Trans People From Intervening In His Lawsuit Over State IDs
The Republican attorney general in Kansas is working to keep transgender people from intervening in his state-court lawsuit against changing the sex listings on their state driver’s licenses. His efforts already will block further changes until at least November. Attorney General Kris Kobach, his legal team and lawyers for the Kansas Department of Revenue were in court Thursday to set a schedule for the lawsuit. The department’s motor vehicles division issues driver’s licenses and has changed the sex listing for more than 900 people during the past four years. (Hanna, 7/20)
Also —
The 19th: Gender Dysphoria Is A Protected Disability In Some States. Momentum Could Be Growing
For nearly six months, Kesha Williams was housed with men in a Virginia prison. Williams, a transgender woman, was denied access to her hormone medication, misgendered and harassed by prison deputies, according to a lawsuit she filed against the county sheriff and detention center staff. Her ongoing legal fight has created historic precedent: People with gender dysphoria are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed that precedent, first upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, to stand. Advocates view that as a hopeful sign in the years-long battle to include trans people in federal disability law. (Rummler, 7/20)
