Global Courant
A federal judge on Tuesday struck down an Arkansas law that would have banned transitional medical care for transgender minors, declaring it unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. of the Eastern District of Arkansas overturned and permanently blocked the passage of the law, writing that it violates the First Amendment and the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment.
“Rather than protecting children or ensuring medical ethics, the evidence showed that the banned medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by banning it the state undermines the interests it claims to promote” , Moody wrote.
The case was the first filed against a ban on gender-affirming care, and the decision marks the first time a judge has overturned such a law.
While Moody’s decision only applies to Arkansas, it could have nationwide implications as similar restrictions have passed into law in 19 other states and even more states have considered them.
Dylan Brandt spoke outside the federal courthouse in Little Rock, Ark, on July 21, 2021. Brandt was one of several transgender youth to challenge a state law to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors.Andrew DeMillo / AP file
The Arkansas law, passed after the majority of the Republican legislature overturned former Governor Asa Hutchinson’s veto in April 2021, would have banned doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and would have banned them prevent minors from referring to other providers.
The American Civil Liberties Union indicted in May 2021 on behalf of four underage transgender people and their parents, as well as two doctors who provide gender-affirming healthcare, arguing that it is against the constitution.
According to Moody’s, the state’s attorneys used five arguments to support the bill. They argued that there is a lack of evidence supporting gender-affirming care for minors, that the banned treatment has harmful side effects, that many patients will “cease” or stop identifying as trans as they get older, that some patients will regret of their transition and that physicians provide treatment without thorough evaluation and informed consent.
However, Moody wrote, “the evidence presented at trial does not support these claims.” He said the state’s arguments fail to explain “why only gender-affirming medical care — and all gender-affirming medical care — is singled out for ban.”
“The testimony of licensed experts, physicians who provide gender-affirming medical care in Arkansas, and families who rely on that care directly counters any claim by the state that the law promotes an interest in protecting children,” Moody wrote.
Protesters protest outside the state capitol in Little Rock, Ark, on March 18, 2021.Sydney Rasch / for ACLU
If enacted, the law would cause “irreparable harm” to the four trans youth, their parents and the doctors represented in the lawsuit, he wrote.
Prosecutor Dylan Brandt, 17, a transgender boy, said in a statement Tuesday that he is grateful the judge heard “my experience of how this health care has changed my life for the better and saw the dangerous impact this law could have on my life and that of countless other transgender people.”
“My mother and I wanted to challenge this law not only to protect my health care, but also to ensure that transgender people like me can safely and fully live our truths,” Brandt said. “Transgender children across the country are threatened by laws like this, and it’s up to all of us to speak up, fight back and give them hope.”
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, condemned the judge’s decision in a tweet Tuesday and said Attorney General Tim Griffin plans to appeal to the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
“This isn’t ‘concern’ — it’s activists pushing a political agenda at the expense of our children and subjecting them to permanent and harmful procedures,” Sanders said. “Only in America’s far-left view is it not appropriate to protect children.”
Judges have temporarily blocked similar restrictions in Alabama, Florida and Indiana. Oklahoma also agreed to defer enforcement of its law pending the outcome of a lawsuit.
