A federal appeals court has upheld a significant law in Arkansas that prohibits doctors from providing gender transition medical care to minors. On October 3, 2023, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-2 to reverse a previous decision by a lower court, allowing the state to enforce what has become the first ban of its kind in the United States.
The court’s ruling is rooted in a June 2023 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld a similar ban in Tennessee. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was constitutional and did not discriminate against transgender individuals. Citing this precedent, the appeals court supported Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, who argued that the law does not violate the equal protection rights of transgender minors as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
“I applaud the court’s decision and am pleased that children in Arkansas will be protected from experimental procedures,” Griffin stated following the ruling.
Background of the Arkansas Law
The legislation, known as the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, was enacted in 2021 when the Republican-led Arkansas legislature overrode a veto from then-Governor Asa Hutchinson. It bans various gender transition treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgical procedures for individuals under the age of 18.
The law faced immediate legal challenges from four families of transgender children and two doctors, who argued that it violated parents’ due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. A lower court had previously ruled in 2023 that the law discriminated against transgender individuals and posed “immediate and irreparable harm” to affected children.
Judge Duane Benton, who authored the majority opinion for the appeals court, indicated that parents have never held an inherent right to obtain medical treatments that a state has prohibited. He noted that the lower court’s previous decision conflicted with the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the Tennessee law.
Conversely, dissenting judge Jane Kelly criticized the ruling, highlighting a “startling lack of evidence” linking Arkansas’s ban on gender-affirming care to its purported goal of protecting children.
Responses to the Ruling
The ruling has elicited a variety of responses. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders took to social media to call the decision “a win for common sense — and for our kids.”
In contrast, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Arkansas, who represented the plaintiffs, expressed their disappointment. Holly Dickson, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, described the ruling as “tragically unjust” for transgender individuals and their families. She criticized the state’s failure to demonstrate that the law would benefit children and insisted that it poses a danger to their wellbeing.
“This is a dangerous law that harms children,” Dickson stated. “The law has already had a profound impact on families across Arkansas who all deserve a fundamental right to do what is best for their children.”
The ruling follows a recent unanimous decision from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a similar ban in Oklahoma, further relying on the Supreme Court’s precedent concerning the Tennessee law.
As the legal landscape around gender transition care continues to evolve, the implications of this ruling will likely resonate across the United States, impacting the lives of many transgender minors and their families.
