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The petitioners in International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson (25-840) are children’s rights organizations and parents. They are challenging Washington State laws that deprive parents of their natural and legal rights when their child runs away from home to seek “gender-affirming care”—a euphemism that includes gender-transition “treatments” such as hormone injections, double mastectomies, and genital mutilation.
According to the petitioners: “Whenever a child runs away, so long as he or she asks for ‘gender-affirming treatment’ a cascade of events is triggered. First, the child is referred for ‘gender-affirming treatment’ without parental notice or consent. Second, parents can be kept in the dark as to the child’s location and condition. And third, reunification can be significantly delayed, with conditions for that reunification uncertain and entirely up to the state.”
Despite these real-world harms to children and their parents, a federal district court dismissed the suit on the ground that the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the Washington State laws. A Ninth Circuit panel affirmed, and over two strong dissents, the court of appeals denied rehearing en banc.
A long-time champion of parental rights, ALF filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to grant review, which the Court did on June 29, 2026. Now ALF has filed a merits-stage amicus brief urging the Court to reverse the Ninth Circuit’s ruling and reaffirm parents’ right to direct the upbringing of their children. Oral argument before the Court is scheduled for December 7, 2026.
ALF's Amicus Brief
Surveying Supreme Court precedents and common law on parental rights, the amicus brief argues that the Washington State laws violate parents’ natural and legal rights to control the upbringing of their minor children. This includes the physical and mental health, well-being, and education of boys and girls who may be confused about their gender, as well as those who truly suffer from gender dysphoria.
ALF’s brief argues that the well-organized and well-funded political efforts of “trans activists” and their fellow travelers are intended to unravel our nation’s social and political fabric by systematically confusing young boys and girls about who they actually are, i.e., by indoctrinating them with gender ideology and “transitioning” them, so that they identify as being a gender (if any) different from their actual—and unalterable—male or female biological sex.
The brief was co-authored by John Reeves of Reeves Law LLC in St. Louis and ALF Executive Vice President & General Counsel Lawrence Ebner.
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