On Monday, House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen filed an amicus brief in pending case, Toomey v. State of Arizona, seeking to protect Arizona’s recently-enacted statute prohibiting gender reassignment surgeries for minors.
On June 27, 2023, Governor Hobbs issued Executive Order 2023-12, requiring the state employee health care plan to cover gender reassignment surgeries. Yet, the executive order makes no mention of A.R.S. 32-3230, a law that the legislature passed and was signed last year by then-Governor Ducey which prohibits irreversible gender reassignment surgeries for minors.
The legislators’ amicus brief seeks to protect Arizona’s statutory mandate by encouraging the court to narrowly interpret the governor’s executive order to avoid a conflict with current law. The brief also urges the court to reject the parties’ unreasonable agreement to award $500,000 in taxpayer monies for the plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees.
“Although Governor Hobbs and I may disagree on matters of policy, state statute prevails over any statements or executive orders from the Governor,” said Toma in a press release. “Given that Arizona law prohibits gender reassignment surgeries for anyone under 18, Governor Hobbs cannot expressly or implicitly undo Arizona’s statutory prohibition, through litigation or otherwise. It was critical that the legislature provide this important perspective, which the parties neglected to address in their proposed settlement.”