As a federal lawsuit challenging a Biden administration rule adding gender dysphoria to a list of protected disabilities in children makes its way through the courts, advocates fear the suit threatens protections for all children with disabilities.

In September, Alabama joined 16 other states in bringing the lawsuit against then-U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in federal court in Texas.

The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleges that the Biden-era regulation, known as a final rule, violates federal law.

Among the arguments is that gender dysphoria is not protected under both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.)

“The [ADA] statute expressly excludes from that definition ‘transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders,’” the lawsuit states. “In other words, ‘tranvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism,’ and ‘gender identity disorders’ that are the result of purely mental impairment are not protected categories under the ADA.”

“Expressly including gender dysphoria as a potentially-protected condition when federal law explicitly excludes it is contrary to law and exceeds Defendants’ statutory authority,” the lawsuit argues.

While most of the lawsuit is dedicated to fighting the rule, disability advocates argue the legal action, if successful, could strip discrimination protections from all disabled children.

Section 504 protects people with disabilities from discrimination.

The lawsuit not only seeks to overturn the Biden-era rule, but it also asks a federal judge to “Declare Section 504 … unconstitutional.”

Alabama parents of children with disabilities and education advocates sounded the alarm on social media.

Huntsville resident Megan Bray Roberts, whose son has accommodations at school under Section 504 and the ADA, encouraged Alabamians to contact Marshall “and tell him exactly what you think of this attack on our kids with disabilities.”

“I’m so tired of being quiet about issues that directly affect my family and the people I love,” she wrote. “I’ve been silent too long.”

“Oh, so we’re doing this now? I’ve said it over and over again, Alabama elected officials HATE children…especially the poor and disabled,” Andrea Alvarez, Huntsville City School Board member for District 3, posted Tuesday to Facebook.

The concern stretched across the country.

On Tuesday, a group of 15 parents of children with disabilities showed up to the Iowa attorney general’s office to deliver letters expressing their disapproval of that state joining the lawsuit, the Des Moines Register reported.

The lawsuit is surrounded by uncertainty with President Trump beginning his second term.

U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix granted the government’s request to stay deadlines in the case as it determines how Trump’s executive order against “gender ideology extremism” impacts the rule.

“In light of that executive order, Defendants require additional time to evaluate their position in this case and determine how best to proceed,” the government wrote.

Hendrix set a Feb. 25 deadline for the parties to issue a joint status report.