Judge Declines to Pause Alabama Trans Health Care Ban Lawsuit
Associated Press, he did leave open the option of issuing a stay if petitions to appellate courts are granted. Groups of transgender youth and their parents have asked the U.S.
Supreme Court to review a decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed bans on gender-affirming care in Kentucky and Tennessee to remain in effect.In the Alabama case, the plaintiffs — which include families with transgender children and two doctors who have treated transgender patients — have asked the full 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals to review a previous decision allowing the law to take effect.In August, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit found that states have “a compelling interest in protecting children from drugs, particularly those for which there is uncertainty regarding benefits, recent surges in use, and irreversible effects.”The panel also argued that Burke, who had issued an injunction blocking the law, had applied the wrong legal standard to the case.Writing on behalf of the court, Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, a Trump appointee, wrote that “[t]he plaintiffs have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right to ‘treat [one’s] children with transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards.'”Lagoa also maintained that the plaintiffs had not proven the law discriminates against them on the basis of sex or other protected characteristics, as the law prevents all minors from accessing gender-affirming treatments to assist in a gender transition.Burke previously set a trial date of April 2, 2024, during which he will hear oral arguments for why Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming care should be overturned or kept in place.Under the law, doctors who prescribe gender-affirming treatments to minors can be punished with up to 10 years in prison and risk the loss of their medical license.
