A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that Alabama can soon start enforcing restrictions outlawing the use of hormones and puberty blockers to treat transgender people under the age of 19, granting the state’s request to lift an initial injunction that had prevented the 2022 law from being enforced.
Families with transgender children petitioned the full appellate court to reconsider the ruling, which the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had earlier ruled may be vacated. However, the decision had been successfully put on hold. The restrictions will remain in place until the full court decides whether to overturn its ruling on Thursday.
The order was referred to as a “major victory for our state, for children, and for common sense” by state Attorney General Steve Marshall.
Through the application of the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, Marshall stated that “the physical and psychological health of our children can now be better protected from these unproven and life-altering drugs and medical procedures.”
The restrictions do “harm parents and children in the state,” according to attorneys representing families of transgender kids who challenged it.
In a joint declaration from GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Human Rights Campaign, it was stated that Alabama’s restrictions on transgender medical care harm thousands of transgender adolescents across the state and may put parents in the excruciating position of not being able to provide their children with the health care they need to thrive.
Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey signed into law The Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act in 2022, which makes it a crime for doctors to administer hormones or puberty blockers to children under the age of 19 in order to help them affirm their gender identity.
Many of the at least 22 states that have passed legislation restricting or outlawing gender-affirming health care for transgender minors are currently subject to legal action or have had their policies thwarted. A federal judge in Arkansas overturned the nation’s earliest rules after claiming that the ban violated the rights of young transgender people and their families. Courts have issued conflicting decisions.
The state’s restrictions on gender-affirming treatment for minors, which a lower judge allowed to go into effect, have been appealed by attorneys representing Tennessee transgender youth and their families to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is anticipated to determine later this year if it will hear the case.
The Alabama law was contested by four families with transgender children between the ages of 12 and 17 as an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and free speech rights as well as a meddling in family health decisions. In an effort to overturn the legislation, the U.S. Department of Justice joined their lawsuit.
When issuing the initial order, U.S. District Judge Liles Burke, who was appointed to the court by then-President Donald Trump in 2017, ruled that Alabama had not provided any convincing evidence to support the idea that transitioning drugs are “experimental.” Alabama filed an appeal with the 11th Circuit. The Alabama restrictions case is expected to go to trial at the beginning of this year.
