Arkansas judge blocks children’s trans surgery law

In April of 2021, Arkansas joined 18 other states in enacting a ban on transgender medical procedures for children. These would include hormone supplements, puberty blockers, and surgery. Republicans in the state legislature had to override then-Governor Asa Hutchinson’s veto to put the law into effect. As has happened in most states with such laws, trans activists immediately went to court in an attempt to have the law struck down. It looks like they found the right court to hear the case (for the second time) because U.S. District Judge Jay Moody issued a permanent injunction against the law this week. Judge Moody, an Obama appointee, had previously ordered a temporary block late in 2021. An appeal has already been filed and it’s expected to be heard in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. (AP)

A federal judge struck down Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for children as unconstitutional Tuesday, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition as a growing number of Republican-led states adopt similar restrictions.

U.S. District Judge Jay Moody issued a permanent injunction against the Arkansas law, which would have prohibited doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18.

Arkansas’ law, which Moody temporarily blocked in 2021, also would have prohibited doctors from referring patients elsewhere for such care.

This was another curious ruling that seems to contain some level of bias. Judge Moody didn’t seem to address the state’s claim that it had the right to enact such laws under its authority to regulate the medical profession. Instead, the judge denied claims that the “treatments” were potentially harmful to children. He wrote, “The prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that, by prohibiting it, the state undermined the interests it claims to be advancing.”

Of course, we’ve known for quite some time now that the judge’s declaration about the safety and efficacy of such “care” is simply not true. These are, in many cases, experimental treatments that can produce horrific results. I personally contacted the FDA last year and was told that they have never approved some of the drugs being used – particularly puberty blockers – for the treatment of pediatric or adult patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria. They further stated that the FDA is “unaware of clinical trials in gender care for any population.”

But we know that such clinical trials are now underway in several European countries. Many of them have banned these treatments for anyone outside of clinical trials. It’s the United States that’s behind the curve on this matter. Judge Moody is basing his conclusions on statements from a relative handful of trans-activist doctors from the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics who insist the procedures are safe while having no data to back up those assertions.

If and when the appeal reaches the next level, the state still may not fare very well. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is still stacked fairly heavily to the left. In fact, that was the court that upheld Moody’s previous temporary block when it was appealed. Other courts hearing these cases have gone in the opposite direction. When that happens, such a collection of cases are generally seen as prime candidates for a hearing before the Supreme Court. And that’s probably what we will need to resolve these questions in a sane fashion. But the process will likely take quite a while to reach that point.