A federal judge in Arkansas on Tuesday struck down the state's law prohibiting transition-related medical treatments for transgender minors.
More than a dozen other states have enacted similar bans, and this was the first successful legal challenge resulting in a law being overturned. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. wrote that the law violates the First Amendment and the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment. He also said the state of Arkansas did not sufficiently prove its claims that gender-affirming care is experimental and has harmful side effects and that doctors are providing treatment without informed consent or thorough evaluations.
"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 Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Arkansas law banned doctors from giving puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and other gender-affirming treatments to minors and blocked them from referring patients to other physicians. It was enacted in April 2021, after the Republican-held Legislature overrode a veto from then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R). A month later, the ACLU sued the state on behalf of four transgender minors and their parents and two doctors.
-
The Taliban wages war on high-speed internetTHE EXPLAINER A new push to cut nationwide access to the digital world is taking Afghanistan back to the isolationist extremes of decades past
-
The US and Colombia renew their feud over the drug warIn the Spotlight The US has accused Colombia of failing in its drug-fighting efforts
-
‘The problem isn’t solved by simply swapping out the faces on screen’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
