LGBTQ advocates say denying Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgeries for transgender Iowans violates the state’s constitution and civil rights law.
Supporters of LGBTQ rights hold placards in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
DES MOINES, Iowa (CN) The ACLU of Iowa claims in court that the state’s policy of denying Medicaid coverage for sex-reassignment operations violates the equal protection provision of the state’s constitution and the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit announced Thursday was filed by the ACLU of Iowa and the national ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project on behalf of Aiden Vasquez, who lives in southeast Iowa. It is the ACLU’s third attempt to strike down as unconstitutional Iowa’s practice of denying what is known as gender-affirming surgeries for transgender people.