Jay Moody, the federal judge of the Eastern District of Arkansas, ruled on the 20th that the decree prohibiting minors from carrying out Gender-affirming surgery was unconstitutional, the first in the United States, and overturned similar regulations implemented by more and more Republican state governments.
The Associated Press reported that Judge Moody’s issued a permanent injunction rejecting Arkansas state law. The state law prohibits physicians from providing sex reset hormone therapy, puberty blockers, or surgery to adolescents under the age of 18.
Moody’s has temporarily blocked the implementation of this regulation in Arkansas since 2021, which also prohibits doctors from referring patients to other places for such gender based medical services.
In addition to Arkansas, at least 19 states have implemented similar bans to prevent minors from receiving gender replacement medical treatment, and almost all Almost all are facing judicial challenges.
Moody’s said in the ruling that the state law violated due process and the equal protection provisions for transgender adolescents and their families, and violated the First Amendment power of medical personnel.
Moody’s wrote, “Rather than protecting children or defending medical ethics, evidence suggests that prohibited medical care can improve the physical and mental well-being of patients. State governments prohibit it from infringing on their protected rights
Moody’s ruling will affect temporary injunctions in other states, including Alabama and Indiana.
Arkansas Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin issued a statement stating that he plans to appeal Moody’s ruling to the Eighth Circuit Court, which ruled last year that Moody’s temporary injunction was illegal.
Arkansas Republican lawmakers implemented the ban in 2021, overturning the veto of former Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson; Hutchinson stepped down in January this year and is currently seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. Hutchinson stated that this law regulates too much and hinders teenagers from receiving relevant treatment.
Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Arkansas, who filed a report on behalf of Transgender teenagers and their families in Arkansas, said that, “This ruling gives a clear message that panic and error messages about Transgender medicine cannot stand scrutiny, and that it harms Transgender adolescents must be ended. Science, medicine and law are clear: gender reset care is necessary and can ensure the health and prosperity of Transgender young people.”
