Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin one of the defendants in the case on Thursday notified a federal district court in the state that he and his codefendants are appealing the ruling to the th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The June ruling from US District Judge James M. Moody Jr. said that the states Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act violated the US Constitution and that the law cannot be enforced by state officials. Under the nowblocked law young people would have not been able to access pubertyblockers a treatment option for transgender youth that is used to prevent the onset of puberty. The measure also banned socalled crosshormone therapy a genderaffirming treatment that allows for trans people to change their physical appearances to be more consistent with their gender identities. Though the ruling only applies to Arkansas ban it represented a significant victory for LGBTQ advocates who have been bringing legal challenges over the last few years to similar laws that have been enacted in GOPled states. The American Civil Liberties Union argued in a statement Thursday that the district courts ruling was consistent with the decisions of numerous other courts and based on a thorough review of the scientific evidence. The court found that rather than protect minors the law harms them by denying them medical care they need said Leslie Cooper deputy director of the ACLUs LGBTQ HIV Project. Were confident in our ability to defend this ruling and the rights of transgender youth and their families. The types of care vary by the age and goals of the recipient and are considered the standard of care by many mainstream medical associations. The legislation made what it calls an exception for some intersex people with unspecified chromosomal makeup and hormone production and those with difficulties resulting from previous genderaffirmed treatments. Last August a threejudge panel on the appeals court allowed Moodys preliminary injunction against the law to stand while the legal challenge to it played out. The lawsuit had been brought two years ago by four transgender adolescents in Arkansas and their. families as well as two doctors who provide genderaffirmation care to trans youth in theState. The law was struck down last month after a three-judge appeals panel ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the state to reinstate the law. The case is still pending and is expected to be heard by the US Court of Appeal in New Orleans in the coming weeks. The judge who wrote the ruling has not yet been named but is believed to be a member of the Republican-appointed appeals panel. The ruling was issued by US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the case will be heard in New York in the next few weeks. It is expected that the judge will rule on whether or not the state can continue to enforce the ban on genderaffirmative treatment for trans youth. The decision will be made by the end of the month or the first week of July. The state has been in the process of filing a motion to stay the ban in the US Supreme Court, which is likely to be granted. The U.S. Department of Justice has not commented on the case.
Arkansas appeals federal judge’s ruling striking down ban on gender-affirming treatment for trans youth. Arkansas appeals federalJudge’s ruling strikes down state’s ban on treatment for transgender youth.
