A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth from going into effect later this month.
Judge James M. Moody Jr. granted a preliminary injunction against the ban that was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of four transgender adolescents in Arkansas and their families, as well as two doctors who provide gender-affirming care to trans youth in the state. In his decision issued from the bench, Moody also rejected the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and his preliminary injunction will stand until he issues a final decision on the plaintiffs’ full complaint, according to Kacie Glenn, a spokeswoman for the judge. The ruling means that, for now, Arkansas won’t be able to begin enforcing the ban on July 28, the day it was set to go into effect. The state’s GOP-led legislature enacted the ban in April after overriding Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto of the measure. “This ruling sends a clear message to states across the country that gender-affirming care is life-saving care, and we won’t let politicians in Arkansas — or anywhere else — take it away,” said Holly Dickson, the executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, in a statement.
