A federal appeals court Monday allowed Alabama to enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, the latest in a series of rulings over efforts by conservative states to limit access to such treatments.
A three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit sided with the state over objections from a group of transgender minors and their parents who argued the state law violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
The ruling follows a series of decisions in recent weeks against similar bans. A day earlier, a federal judge in Georgia temporarily blocked parts of that state’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
Alabama’s law makes it a crime to provide puberty blockers or hormone treatments to a minor. A U.S. District Court issued an injunction blocking the law from taking effect last year. Alabama appealed that decision. The litigation will continue as courts assess whether to strike down or uphold the Alabama law permanently.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, said that the appeals court ruling Monday “reinforced that the state has the authority to safeguard the physical and psychological wellbeing of minors.” The state, he said, “takes this responsibility seriously by forbidding doctors from prescribing minors sex-modification procedures that have permanent and often irreversible effects.”
Several groups represented the families, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign. The groups said in a statement that the ruling was a “deeply disappointing decision” but that “we are confident that it is only a temporary one.”
Jeff Doss, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said that the groups are “carefully considering all available options, including further appellate review.” The decision could potentially be appealed to the Supreme Court.
All three judges on the panel were appointed by former President Donald Trump.
Contributing: The Associated Press
