An Arkansas law banning gender-affirming medical care for teens and children was struck down by a federal judge on June 20, in what could become a bellwether precedent for lawsuits against similar bans in other states, according to The New York Times.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas brought the case against the state and argued that the law banning gender-affirming healthcare for minors violated the constitutional rights of those who are seeking that care. The judge's ruling upholds parents' rights to make decisions on behalf of their children and physicians' rights to provide medical care.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said he would appeal the decision to strike down the law.
"The case had been closely watched as an important test of whether bans or severe restrictions on transition care for minors, which have since been enacted by 19 other states, could withstand legal challenges being brought by activists and civil liberties groups," the Times report said, adding the Arkansas ruling "is the first ruling to broadly block such a ban for an entire state, though judges have intervened to temporarily delay similar laws from going into effect" in other states.
Little Rock Federal District Court Judge James Moody Jr. wrote in his 80-page ruling that Arkansas' ban "both discriminated against transgender people and violated the constitutional rights of doctors," the Times said.
Mr. Moody also wrote the state failed to prove that healthcare provided to transgender youths by Arkansas physicians was "experimental or carelessly prescribed."
"Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that 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," Mr. Moody wrote.