Alabama is using the case that ended Roe to argue it can ban gender-affirming care

Alabama Rep. Neil Rafferty speaks in support of transgender rights during a rally outside the Alabama State House in 2021. The state is using the Dobbs ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended abortion access as a federal right, to argue it has the authority to ban gender-affirming medical care.

Jake Crandall / Jake Crandall

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can prohibit abortion, Alabama has seized on the decision to argue that the state should also be able to ban gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender youths.

The case marks one of the first known instances in which a conservative state has tried to apply the abortion ruling to other realms, just as LGBTQ advocates and others were afraid would happen.

Critics have expressed fear that the legal reasoning behind the high court ruling could lead to a rollback of decisions involving such matters as gay marriage, birth control and parental rights.