Appeals Court Upholds Alabama’s Gender-Affirming Care Ban—Here Are The Other Trans Health Restrictions Facing Court Battles
By Ty Roush
By August 21, 2023
An appeals court reversed an injunction on Alabama’s gender-affirming care ban late Monday, allowing the ban to be immediately enforced, adding to a list of other court rulings upholding or blocking similar bans or restrictions in other states.
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TIMELINE
August 21, 2023 – The federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Alabama bill that made it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers and hormones to transgender minors under 19, indicating that states have “a compelling interest in protecting children from drugs” that have “uncertainty regarding benefits,” reversing a temporary injunction following a complaint from the Justice Department.
August 20, 2023 – U.S. District Judge Sarah Geraghty placed a preliminary injunction on a Georgia law prohibiting in-state physicians from providing hormone replacement therapy to minors, suggesting it likely violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process and equal protection clauses and “singles out transgender minors for the denial of essential medical care,” though she did not block a ban on gender-reassignment surgeries.
July 15, 2023 – U.S. District Judge David Hale lifted a temporary injunction on Kentucky’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors—allowing restrictions to take effect effective immediately—after Hale ruled last month the ban was likely unconstitutional.
July 8, 2023 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care, allowing the state to prohibit access to puberty blockers and gender-reassignment surgery for minors effective immediately, after a panel of three judges voted to reverse a temporary injunction on the ban by District Judge Eli Richardson, who said last month the ban was likely unconstitutional.
June 21, 2023 – District Judge Robert Hinkle—who argued “gender identity is real”—ruled against a Florida ban that restricted Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, two weeks after issuing a preliminary injunction on a state ban prohibiting such care while suggesting it is “medically necessary.”
June 20, 2023 – District Judge Jay Moody issued a permanent injunction against an Arkansas law prohibiting in-state physicians from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to minors, arguing the law violated due process protections and equal protections rights of transgender youth. (Moody had temporarily blocked the law in 2021 after the ACLU sued, ahead of a trial.)
June 16, 2023 – An Indiana ban on gender-affirming care for minors was partially blocked by a preliminary injunction from Judge Patrick Hanlon, who ordered the state to refrain from enforcing its ban on “gender transition procedures” while a lawsuit makes its way through the court, though he upheld a ban on gender-reassignment surgeries.
July 18, 2022 – The Georgia Department of Community Health agreed to include coverage of gender-reassignment surgeries in the state’s Medicaid program, after a bill approved a year earlier excluded coverage.
April 21, 2023 – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond agreed not to enforce a state bill restricting access to gender-affirming care while a lawsuit requesting a preliminary injunction made its way through the court.
May 13, 2022 – District Judge Liles Burke issued a preliminary injunction against an Alabama law that made it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers and hormones to transgender minors, following a complaint from the Justice Department, though it still allows a ban on gender-reassignment surgeries.
TANGENT
Lawsuits have been filed in most states with legislation targeting gender-affirming care, with requests for temporary or permanent injunctions. The American Civil Liberties Union has sued over restrictions in Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Montana, Idaho, Kentucky and Arizona, and pledged to challenge similar legislation in other states. The Justice Department—which challenged Alabama’s ban—also filed a complaint against Tennessee and called for an injunction, arguing the state’s restrictions on gender-affirming care are unconstitutional.
BIG NUMBER
21. That’s how many states have issued bans or restrictions on gender-affirming care. Of these, 18 were passed this year.
KEY BACKGROUND
Legislation targeting transgender healthcare has been passed in several states in recent months, following arguments from some politicians—including former President Donald Trump—suggesting gender-affirming care is “child abuse.” Other politicians and medical organizations have since pushed back against attempts to ban gender-affirming care, arguing that treatment is necessary because transgender children face high rates of depression and suicide. The American Medical Association—alongside other organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians—reinforced its position, suggesting “widespread misinformation” about medical care for transgender youth has resulted in more restrictions nationwide. The organization also argued that gender-affirming care “can be lifesaving.”
FURTHER READING
Judge Strikes Down Arkansas’ Gender-Affirming Care Ban (Forbes)
This piece was republished from Forbes.