Arkansas gender-affirming care ban: Judge overrules gender-affirming care ban in Arkansas

A federal district judge on Tuesday overturned an Arkansas law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

The judge said the law violates the constitutional rights of transgender youth, their parents and health care providers.

“I want the judge to hear my experience of how this medical care has changed my life for the better, and that this law will have a dangerous impact on my life and the lives of countless other transgender people. I am very grateful that they understood the possibilities,” said 17-year-old Dylan Brandt. A 1-year-old transgender boy from Arkansas said in a statement that he is the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

“Transgender children across the country have their futures threatened by laws like this one. It is up to all of us to speak up, fight back and give them hope.” there is,” he said.

At least 17 other states have passed similar laws, some of which have preliminary injunctions.

Arkansas law also prohibited state funding and insurance coverage for gender-affirming care and allowed private insurance companies to deny coverage for such care regardless of age.

The law was vetoed by the governor at the time. Republican Asa Hutchinson called it “a huge government overreach” and “a product of America’s culture wars,” citing potentially dangerous consequences for the state’s transgender youth. called. His veto was overturned by the state legislature.

Republican lawmakers who supported the bill said they wanted young people to wait until they were older to start gender-affirming care.

National medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, argue that gender-positive care is safe, effective, beneficial, and medically necessary.

Health experts say transgender youth are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts and attempts. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that gender-affirming hormone therapy improves the mental health of transgender youth.

The restrictions were challenged in a lawsuit backed by four transgender youth families, two doctors, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Sullivan Law Office. & Cromwell LLP, Gil Lagon Owen, Wallace Law Firm.