A mother from Minnesota is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case against county officials whom she accused of helping her son — who was a minor at the time — to begin the process of transitioning his sex sans parental consent.
Annmarie Calgaro first filed a lawsuit against public officials in 2016, claiming they violated the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution by “terminat[ing] her constitutionally protected parental rights without due process.”
Calgaro’s son, referred to in legal filings as “E.J.K.,” was 15 years old when local and school officials determined her son was emancipated without any court order. They then helped E.J.K. obtain and pay for sex-change services, including hormones and other medications.
Lawyers with the Thomas More Society, a conservative Christian legal group, petitioned the high court Wednesday, asking the nine justices to review the case on Calgaro’s behalf. The Supreme Court will hear the case when it returns from its summer recess in the fall.
In a statement issued this week, Erick Kaardal, special counsel for the Society, described Calgaro’s situation as “a parent’s worst nightmare.”
“Anmarie Calgaro’s child, while a minor, was steered through a life-changing, permanent body altering process, becoming a pawn in someone else’s sociopolitical agenda and being influenced by those who have no legal or moral right to usurp the role of a parent,” he continued.
Calgaro’s son, who is now 18, has since undergone surgery to fully transition.
What are the details?
In her initial court filing, Calgaro sued the St. Louis County School District as well as two health care providers. The school principal decided, without Calgaro’s consent and without an official court order, that E.J.K. was emancipated as a minor. As a result, Calgaro was barred from accessing her son’s school and health records.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Calgaro in 2017, which is when the Minnesota mother enlisted the help of the Society.
“The United States Supreme Court now has the opportunity to untangle this incompatible and untenable scenario,” Kaardal said. “So, nationwide fit parents can keep parenting without government intervention.”