On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, a federal judge blocked Arkansas’ ban on the care of sex-identified minors. In this photo, opponents of the religious freedom bill gather at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, April 2, 2015.
Danny Johnston/AP
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Danny Johnston/AP
On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, a federal judge blocked Arkansas’ ban on the care of sex-identified minors. In this photo, opponents of the religious freedom bill gather at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, April 2, 2015.
Danny Johnston/AP
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge has permanently blocked the country’s first law to ban sex-based minors, signaling a victory for LGBTQ advocates.
decision by United States District Judge James Moody Jr. On Tuesday, the state of Arkansas violated several provisions of the U.S. Constitution by banning all sex-determination treatments for people under the age of 18. The 80-page ruling said that stripping minors of transgender treatments such as hormone therapy would cause them irreparable harm and delay care until adulthood. will force adolescents to undergo changes that are inconsistent with their gender identity.
Judgment is given later an eight-day trial in December, where several state witnesses admitted they had no experience treating transgender youth and presented no evidence to dispute decades of scientific research.
“Rather than protecting children or defending medical ethics, the evidence shows that prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by banning it, the State undermines undermine the interests they claim to be promoting,” the ruling read. . “The testimony of reputable experts, physicians who provide sex-affirming medical care in Arkansas, and the families who rely on such care directly refute any claims made by the State Department. state that the Act promotes an interest in the protection of children.”
The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of the families of transgender teenagers and two doctors. Judge Moody had previously blocked the law several days before it went into effect in 2021.
Arkansas becomes the first state in the nation to ban sex-determined care for transgender minors when lawmakers pass Act 626 in 2021. Alabama, Florida, and Indiana have similar laws on the books , all of which are temporarily suspended.
“I’m grateful the judge heard from my experience how this health care has changed my life for the better and saw the dangerous impact this law could have on my life. me and countless other transgender people,” said Dylan Brandt, a transgender person. teenager and is one of the plaintiffs in the case.
A request for comment from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin was not returned before the deadline.
constitutional declaration
Moody’s ruling said that Act 626 violated three parts of the U.S. Constitution: the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, and the Amendment’s provisions of due process. the fifth and fourteenth principalities.
The ACLU has argued that Arkansas law limits physicians’ freedom of speech by prohibiting them from referring patients to other providers for gender-based care. Moody’s agreed, saying that restricting speech to only “transgender proceedings” was a First Amendment violation.
The ruling also found the law violated Arkansans’ due process rights by depriving parents of the ability to make decisions regarding their child’s health care. It adds a law that discriminates against minors based on their gender because it would not prohibit a minor from accessing sex-affirming care if it matches the sex assigned when their birth.
Background
While Republicans have a comfortable majority in both houses of the Arkansas legislature, the passage of Act 626 was not without controversy.
After hours of hearing testimony from transgender youth and advocates, lawmakers gave the bill’s final approval in April 2021. Then, the Government. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, vetoed the bill, said it would interfere with families’ individual health care decisions.
In Arkansas, a simple majority is required in both the House and Senate to override a governor’s veto. Lawmakers in both houses easily overruled Hutchinson’s veto the next day, clearing the way for the law to go into effect later that year.
“I hope my veto will turn my Republican colleagues around the country against the temptation to put the state in the middle in every decision parents and parents make,” Hutchinson said at the time. healthcare specialist.
In August 2021, Judge Moody — the same judge who ruled Tuesday — issued a temporary restraining order on Proposition 626. A federal appeals court later confirmed the ruling. of the lower court in August 2022.
In an eight-day trial in December, lawyers for the state attorney general’s office argued that the state has a duty to protect children from “irreversible” medical procedures. Several state witnesses have spoken out against sex-affirming treatments, such as puberty suppressors and hormones, but admit to never prescribing them to transgender teenagers.
The court found three of the state’s witnesses had been recruited at a meeting of the Christian advocacy organization Alliance for Freedom, which was specially organized to bring together witnesses trained in the law. Various sectors are willing to testify in support of the passed legislation restricting transgender care.
“While there is nothing nefarious about an organization recruiting witnesses to testify to their cause, it is clear from hearing testimony that Professor Mark Regnerus, Dr Paul Hruz and Dr. [Patrick] Lappert testified more from a religious doctrinal point of view than requested by experts,” the ruling read.
