An Alabama law that makes it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers and hormones to transgender minors has been blocked by a federal judge while he affirms other aspects of the state's Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act US district judge Liles Burke issued a preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the medication ban, which took effect on 8 May, while a lawsuit against the bill goes forward.
The decision was welcomed by advocates for gender-affirming medication for minors, who challenged the law as an unlawful intrusion into family and medical decisions.
Jennifer Levi, director of the transgender rights project for GLBTQ Legal Advocates Defenders, said it was an extraordinary relief. Parents should not be punished for wanting to do what s best for their kids. The ruling maintains Alabama's ban on gender-affirming surgeries for transgender minors that are not performed on minors in the state, as well as a provision that requires counselors and other school officials to tell parents if a minor tells them they think they are transgender.
Educators and school nurses are not allowed to withhold or encourage or coerce students to withhold from their parents the fact that the minor s perception of his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor sex Burke wrote in his opinion.
The state attorney general's office argued that the use of the medications is unavoidable science, and therefore the state has a role in regulation to protect children.
At least twenty-two major medical associations in the United States endorse transitioning medications as well-established, evidence-based treatments for gender dysphoria in minors, according to the judge. Burke said that enjoining the Act supports the enduring American tradition that parents not the states or federal courts play the primary role in nurturing and caring for their children Alabama s governor Kay Ivey, who said if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a girl, you are a girl. State attorney general Steve Marshall said last month he will appeal the ruling.
Alabama s law banning child gender transition has received support from 15 states, including Texas, where the attorney general, Ken Paxton, issued a statement on Wednesday that he would support any law in any state that protects vulnerable children from the sexual predations of the left In Arkansas, a judge blocked a similar law before it took effect. Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, a pediatrician who founded a Birmingham medical team that treats children with gender dysphoria, said the decision was a huge relief for transgender children and their families.