A federal judge struck down an Arkansas law Tuesday that would have banned transition-related 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 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 to be advancing,” Moody wrote.
The case was the first filed against a ban on gender-affirming ban, and the decision marks the first time a judge has permanently overturned a ban on gender-affirming care. Judges in other states facing similar lawsuits have issued temporary injunctions.
Though Moody’s decision applies only to Arkansas, it could have ripple effects across the country as similar restrictions have become law in 19 other states and even more states have considered them.
Arkansas’ law, which passed after the majority-Republican 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 barred them from referring minors to other providers.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued in May 2021 on behalf of four trans youths and their parents, as well as two physicians who provide gender-affirming health care, arguing that it violates the Constitution.
Attorneys for the state argued that the law protected children from the potential negative side effects of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery and that it safeguarded medical ethics. Moody said those arguments didn’t explain “why only gender-affirming medical care — and all gender-affirming medical care — is singled out for prohibition.”
“The testimony of well-credentialed experts, doctors who provide gender-affirming medical care in Arkansas, and families that rely on that care directly refutes any claim by the State that the Act advances an interest in protecting children,” Moody wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
