(DailyVantage.com) – A federal appellate court recently allowed Alabama to ban hormone treatments for minors in the state’s latest push against gender-affirming medical procedures. The court’s decision removed a delay in Alabama authorities enforcing the hormone treatment ban and ended the appeals process for those fighting against the law. Additional court proceedings could follow, but it seems unlikely that a higher court will declare the law unconstitutional in the near future.
According to Alabama’s Attorney General Steven Marshall, the appellate court’s decision marks a victory for the citizens of the state. Marshall also said the law, known as the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, is common sense and could protect children from life-altering medical treatments. Marshall cited a desire to protect children from untested and potentially dangerous procedures as a primary motivation for Alabama lawmakers, a claim echoed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey.
Ivey supported the hormone treatment ban in 2022 and signed the law into effect after its proposal. The law banned transgender surgical procedures, as well as non-surgical transgender treatments on minors. The law took effect, but a federal judge instituted a delay on the law’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments. The law’s supporters, like Ivey and Marshall, cited the potentially dangerous side effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments could have on young children. Among the severe side effects of the aforementioned hormone treatments are heart problems, permanent sterility, and weakened bone development.
A group of parents attempted to fight the law through a lawsuit, claiming the law violated their children’s constitutional rights. Despite the plaintiffs arguing against the bill’s implementation of banning hormone treatment, Judge Barbara Lagoa said that the right to transgender medical procedures isn’t constitutional. According to Lagoa, the issue of chemical transgender medical procedures should be determined by the state’s legislature, not by judicial courts.
Lawyers representing the families of transgender children claimed the law would inevitably hurt thousands of children throughout Alabama due to their status as transgender. Alabama is the latest state to implement a ban on transgender procedures amidst a national rise in cases of gender dysphoria. Despite losing in federal court, the families likely plan to appeal the lawsuit to a higher court, with the case potentially reaching the United States Supreme Court within the next few years.
Copyright 2024, DailyVantage.com
