Iowa sued for blocking Medicaid from funding gender reassignment surgery

The ACLU takes legal actions against state, claiming the measure 'has no basis in medicine or science'

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The ACLU of Iowa has filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law that prohibits the use of Medicaid funding for gender reassignment surgery.

Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill on 3 May that included language amending the Iowa's Civil Rights Act so that the state is not required to pay for gender reassignment surgery.

On Friday, The ACLU sued Mr Reynolds, the state and the Iowa Department of Human Services on behalf of One Iowa, a group that advocates for transgender rights, and two transgender Iowans who qualify for Medicaid and whose doctors say they need the surgery to treat gender dysphoria.

The lawsuit filed in state court asks a judge to declare the measure invalid because it's unconstitutional and order the state to halt enforcement. It claims the law violates the inalienable rights to liberty, safety and happiness and equal protection sections of article 1 of the Iowa Constitution.

Rita Bettis Austen, the Legal Director of ACLU of Iowa, says the measure "has no basis in medicine or science.” She said that major medical associations agree that surgical treatment is medically necessary, and not an elective procedure, for some transgender people.

"This is an extraordinarily ugly law and an extraordinarily dangerous law because it acts to take away rights that have previously been given under the state civil rights act," Ms Austen continued.

In March, the Supreme Court ruled that the Iowa Department of Human Services cannot block Medicaid from paying for gender reassignment surgery for two transgender women whose doctors recommended the procedure.

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature passed the law being challenged as part of a last minute addition to a human services budget bill responding to that ruling.

Aiden Vasquez, 51, is one of the transgender Iowans the ACLU is representing in the lawsuit. He said surgery is necessary to treat anxiety and depression caused by gender dysphoria.

"I am participating in this lawsuit to get the medical care I desperately need, and to pave the way for other transgender Iowans who need it too," he said. "Tragically, society shames transgender people just for being who they are. But I'm not hiding anymore. I'm determined to help myself, and in that way, help others."

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.