Alabama Allowed To Start Enforcing Ban On Puberty Blockers, Cross-Sex Hormones For Children

 A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that Alabama can start enforcing its ban on giving children life-altering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones if they identify as transgender. 

The decision from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals removed a previous delay on the full enforcement of the law during the appeal process of the law. The court had ruled in favor of Alabama in August, keeping the law in place but enforcement had been paused as those suing tried to get the court’s decision reversed. 

“The physical and psychological safety of our children can now be better protected from these untested and life-altering chemical and surgical procedures through the implementation of the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. “This is a significant victory for our country, for children, and for common sense.”

The law, signed in 2022 by Republican Governor Kay Ivey, banned transgender surgeries as well as non-surgical transgender procedures on children. The ban on surgeries was allowed to take effect, but a federal judge blocked implementation of the prohibition on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have irreversible effects and have been linked to heart problems, fertility issues, and poor bone development. 

The 11th Circuit sided with Alabama in August over a group of parents with transgender-identifying children who challenged the law. 

“The plaintiffs have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right to ‘treat [one’s] children with transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards,’” Judge Barbara Lagoa, a Trump appointee, wrote in her opinion.

“Absent a constitutional mandate to the contrary, these types of issues are quintessentially the sort that our system of government reserves to legislative, not judicial, action,” Lagoa added.

 

Lawyers for the parents who had sued Alabama claimed that thousands of kids across Alabama would be hurt by Thursday’s decision. 

“Today’s ruling will hurt parents and children in the state. We will continue to challenge this unlawful ban and to support parents and their kids in pushing back against the dangerous reality of being denied access to necessary, best practice medical care,” they said in a statement. 

Over 20 states have banned transgender procedures on minors as gender dysphoria diagnosis skyrocket across the United States.