Wyoming鈥檚 ban on gender-affirming care went into effect July 1, restricting medical treatment like puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth.
The Equality State is one of to pass such a law 鈥� part of a introduced in recent years.
Supporters of the Wyoming ban, like sponsor state Sen. Anthony Bouchard (R-Cheyenne), say minors are making choices they may later regret.
鈥淚 think children just weren鈥檛 ready to make those kinds of decisions,鈥� Bouchard said. 鈥淭hose are lifelong decisions, lifelong healthcare.鈥�
But say that this kind of care can reduce feelings of depression among trans youth.
Julie Burkhart runs Wellspring Health Access in Casper, which provides this type of treatment to a handful of minors. She said this population will seek care despite the new law, but there will be more obstacles in their way.
鈥淚t's going to potentially displace families where they feel like they have to move to a state where their child can get this adequate health care,鈥� Burkhart said.
The U.S. Supreme Court it will consider the constitutionality of these kinds of state laws in its next term, with arguments kicking off in the fall.
That decision could impact bans in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Montana.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court Idaho鈥檚 law to go into effect, except in the case of two anonymous plaintiffs. In Montana, a state judge has temporarily blocked the gender-affirming care ban, after .
Burkhart said she and others are 鈥渓ooking at options鈥� to sue in Wyoming to block the ban, but they haven鈥檛 filed anything yet.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.