Arkansas court rules state cannot enforce transgender surgery ban

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday said Arkansas can’t enforce its ban on transgender children receiving gender affirming medical care.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judge’s ruling temporarily blocking the state from enforcing the 2021 law. A trial is scheduled for October before the same judge on whether to permanently block the law.

Arkansas was the first state to enact such a ban, which also prohibits doctors from referring patients elsewhere for gender affirming care. There are no doctors who perform gender affirming surgery on minors in the state.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed the ban last year, but GOP lawmakers overrode him and enacted the measure.

Multiple medical groups, including the American Medical Association, oppose the ban and have said the care is safe if properly administered. The Justice Department has also opposed the ban as unconstitutional.