Story at a glance
- A federal court on Thursday upheld an injunction that has blocked the enforcement of an Arkansas law banning gender-affirming care for minors for more than a year.
- The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its ruling said the lower district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing the injunction.
- A judge in October will decide whether to permanently block the law, which prohibits doctors in the state from providing treatments like puberty blockers and hormones to patients under 18.
A federal court has upheld an injunction temporarily blocking an Arkansas law banning gender-affirming health care for transgender youth under 18, ruling that a lower court did not abuse its power in granting the injunction.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled the preliminary injunction that has blocked the enforcement of Arkansas’ “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act” for more than a year will remain in place until an ongoing legal battle over its constitutionality is settled.
The measure, passed by the legislature in March 2021, prohibits doctors in the state from providing or recommending gender-affirming medical care including puberty blockers and hormones to minors. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) vetoed the bill, also referred to as Act 626, last year, calling it a “vast government overreach.”
State lawmakers introduced the measure last February, arguing that Arkansas has a “compelling government interest in protecting the health and safety of its citizens, especially vulnerable children.”
Hutchinson’s veto was quickly overridden by the legislature, but the law was blocked by a district court judge before it could take effect. Lawyers for the state appealed that decision, arguing that District Court Judge James M. Moody Jr. had abused the court’s discretion in issuing the injunction.
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On Thursday, the higher court ruled the judge had not. The court also affirmed arguments made by plaintiffs in the case that transgender youth will suffer “irreparable harm” absent a preliminary injunction and enforcing the law would prohibit “medical treatment that conforms with the recognized standard of care.”
“The district court did not err in concluding Act 626 is not substantially related to Arkansas’s interests in protecting children from experimental medical treatment and regulating medical ethics,” Thursday’s ruling states.
The decision stems from a 2021 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of four transgender minors, their parents and two Arkansas physicians who argued the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and discriminates on the basis of sex.
The Justice Department echoed that argument in a statement of interest in the case last year, claiming that Arkansas was discriminating against transgender youth by prohibiting them from accessing “medically necessary care.”
A trial has been set for October, where a judge will decide whether to permanently block the law.
During oral arguments in June, Chase Strangio, deputy director for Transgender Justice at the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, said lifting the injunction would create unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty for families with transgender children.
“People are relying on this treatment,” he said at the time. “Because of the injunction, the plaintiffs have been able to receive the medical care that they need. If the injunction were lifted now, the families would have to leave their homes, their communities, their jobs, and travel to another state, just to potentially return at a point when the final order would be issued.”
Strangio also referenced testimony from Michele Hutchinson, a doctor who’s a plaintiff in the case, that multiple transgender youth had attempted suicide following the passage of Act 626 in the House.
On Thursday, Holly Dickson, the ACLU of Arkansas’ executive director, said the court’s ruling to uphold the injunction affirms that “no child should be denied medical care they need.”
“We are relieved for trans youth,” she said in a statement. “Transgender people deserve the right to live healthy lives without fear and discrimination. It’s time for the Arkansas Legislature to protect trans kids, not target them.”
Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, one of the defendants in the case, will ask the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the ruling, spokesperson Amanda Priest said Thursday.
“The Attorney General is extremely disappointed in today’s dangerously wrong decision,” she said.
Major medical organizations including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics say they support access to gender-affirming health care for transgender young people.
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