Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for children unconstitutional, judge rules

Arkansas gender care ban overview: 

• Who: A federal judge in Arkansas had ruled that a ban on gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 18 is unconstitutional. 
• Why: The judge placed a permanent injunction on the law, which was put in place by Republican lawmakers in 2021. 
• Where: Arkansas. 

A federal judge in Arkansas has ruled a state ban on gender-affirming care — including hormone treatment, puberty blockers, and/or surgery —  for children is unconstitutional, and issued a permanent injunction to prevent its enforcement. 

Under the law, doctors would have been prohibited from both providing gender affirming care to individuals younger than 18, and from referring an underage patient somewhere else to get treatment, The Associated Press (AP) reports. 

At least 19 states in the U.S. have reportedly followed Arkansas’ lead by enacting laws that either restrict or ban access to gender-affirming care for underage youth, with almost all subsequently challenged in court. 

The decision to overturn the Arkansas law was the first such ruling for a prohibition against gender-affirming care for minors, while similar bans have been temporarily blocked in Indiana and Alabama, the AP reports. 

“This decision sends a clear message. Fear-mongering and misinformation about this health care do not hold up to scrutiny; it hurts trans youth and must end,” Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said in a statement. 

Ban violates due process, equal protection rights for transgender youth, families, judge rules

The judge reportedly ruled the law violated the due process and equal protection rights for transgender youth and their families, in addition to violating medical providers’ First Amendment rights. 

Arkansas’ Republican Attorney General, Tim Griffin, said in a statement he was disappointed in the ruling and that he plans to bring an appeal to the 8th Circuit, the same court that upheld a temporary order against the law last year, according to the AP. 

The ban was originally put in place in 2021, at which time Republican lawmakers in Arkansas reportedly overrode a veto from former GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who had argued the law went too far by cutting off care for children who were in the middle of treatment. 

Earlier this year, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an emergency rule requiring 18 months of psychiatric or psychological assessment over at least 15 hourlong sessions prior to being able to receive gender-affirming care. 

Do you agree with the judge’s decision that Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors is unconstitutional? Let us know in the comments.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Supreme Court rules gov’t has authority to dismiss whistleblower False Claims Act cases
• FCC launches data privacy task force
• Iowa’s Supreme Court blocks law that would ban abortion after 6 weeks
• Supreme Court upholds Indian Child Welfare Act