A federal judge on Tuesday struck down an Arkansas law that would have banned transition-related medical care for transgender minors, declaring it unconstitutional.
US District Judge James Moody Jr. of the Eastern District of Arkansas struck down and permanently blocked the law from taking effect, writing that it violates the First Amendment and the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment.
“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that, by prohibiting it, the State undermined the interests it claims moving forward,” Moody wrote.
The case was the first to be brought against a ban on gender-affirming care, and the decision marks the first time a judge has struck down such a law.
Although Moody’s decision applies only to Arkansas, it could have nationwide effects, as similar restrictions have become law in 19 other states and even more states are considering them.
Dylan Brandt speaks outside federal court in Little Rock, Ark., on July 21, 2021. Brandt was among several transgender youth who challenged a state law to ban gender confirmation care for trans minors.Andrew DeMillo/AP file
The Arkansas law, which was passed after the Republican-majority Legislature overrode former Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto in April 2021, would have prohibited doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and would have prohibited them from referring minors to other providers.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued in May 2021 representing four trans minors and their parents, as well as two doctors who provide health care with gender criteria, arguing that it violates the Constitution.
State attorneys relied on five arguments to support the law, according to Moody’s opinion. They argued that there is a lack of evidence to support gender-based care for minors, that prohibited treatment has harmful side effects, that many patients will “drop out” or no longer identify as trans when they grow up, that some patients will regret their transitions. 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 did not explain “why only gender-affirming medical care, and all gender-affirming medical care, is identified as prohibited.”
“The testimony of well-credentialed experts, physicians who provide gender-affirming medical care in Arkansas, and families who rely on such care directly refutes any assertion by the State that the Act furthers an interest in protecting children,” he said. write Moody.
Demonstrators protest outside the state capitol in Little Rock, Ark., on March 18, 2021, as lawmakers considered a bill that would ban state doctors from providing transition-related health care to transgender minors.Sydney Rasch / for ACLU
If the law is allowed to go into effect, it would “cause irreparable harm” to the four young trans people, their parents and the doctors represented in the lawsuit, he wrote.
Plaintiff 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 impact dangerous this law could have on my life and the lives of countless other transgender people.”
“My mom and I wanted to fight this law not only to protect my health, but also to ensure that transgender people like me can safely and fully live our truths,” Brandt said. “Transgender children across the country have their own futures 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 it to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“This is not ‘care’ – these are activists pushing a political agenda at the expense of our children and subjecting them to permanent and harmful procedures,” Sanders said. “Only in the far-left’s awakened view of America is it inappropriate to protect children.”
Judges have temporarily blocked similar restrictions in Alabama, Florida and Indiana. oklahoma it has also agreed to postpone the implementation of its law pending the outcome of the litigation.
