Appeals court allows Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender transition care for minors to be enforced

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Arkansas law prohibiting doctors from providing gender transition medical treatment to minors, reversing a lower court decision that blocked the first-in-the-nation law.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-2 on Tuesday to overturn a lower court decision, now allowing the state to enforce the law. The appeals court cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June upholding a similar ban in Tennessee, in which the nation's highest court ruled that the law was constitutional and did not discriminate against transgender people.

Referencing the Supreme Court's decision, the appeals court agreed with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, that the law did not violate transgender minors' equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution.

"I applaud the court’s decision and am pleased that children in Arkansas will be protected from experimental procedures," Griffin said in a statement following the ruling.

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Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote on social media that the ruling "is a win for common sense -- and for our kids."

Arkansas became the first U.S. state to ban transgender treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for minors in 2021, when the Republican-led legislature passed the ban after they overruled the veto of then-GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Four families of transgender children and two doctors challenged the law, arguing the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act violated parents' due process rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment.

Writing the majority opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton said parents have never had a right to obtain medical treatment for their children that a state government had banned.

The judge also wrote that the lower court's decision, in which U.S. District Judge Jay Moody ruled in 2023 that the law discriminates against transgender people and poses "immediate and irreparable harm" to transgender children, conflicts with the Supreme Court’s decision in the Tennessee case. The law was also previously blocked from taking effect in 2021.

U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Kelly, meanwhile, wrote in the dissent that there is a "startling lack of evidence connecting Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming care with its purported goal of protecting children."

The American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas were among the groups representing the plaintiffs.

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"This is a tragically unjust result for transgender Arkansans, their doctors, and their families," Holly Dickson, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, said in a statement.

"The state had every opportunity and failed at every turn to prove that this law helps children; in fact, this is a dangerous law that harms children," she continued. "The law has already had a profound impact on families across Arkansas who all deserve a fundamental right to do what is best for their children. As we and our clients consider our next steps, we want transgender Arkansans to know they are far from alone and we remain as determined as ever to secure their right to safety, dignity, and equal access to the health care they need."

The ruling on Tuesday comes after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously last week that a similar ban in Oklahoma is constitutional, also relying upon the Supreme Court's decision on the Tennessee law.

Reuters contributed to this report.