The trial over an Alabama law prohibiting doctors from providing puberty-blockers and hormones to treat transgender minors has been delayed until 2024.
U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke last month postponed the trial date from August to April 2, 2024, giving more time for the parties to produce requested records. The Alabama law remains on hold under a temporary injunction issued last year by Burke. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has not ruled on Alabama’s request to lift the injunction and let the law go into effect.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act into law in 2022, making it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for doctors to treat transgender people under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to help affirm their gender identity. Ivey called the treatments “radical” and “unproven.” Families with transgender children ranging in age from 12 to 17 were among those that challenged the Alabama law as an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and free speech rights, as well as an intrusion into family medical decisions. The U.S. Department of Justice joined their lawsuit, seeking to overturn the law.
TRANSGENDER WOMEN MUST SIGN UP FOR MILITARY DRAFT UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, TRANS MEN GET A PASS
At least 20 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors. Arkansas was the first, and its ban was the first to be permanently struck down as unconstitutional by a federal judge. Other laws have been temporarily blocked by federal judges in Florida, Indiana and Kentucky.
A federal appeals court has allowed Tennessee’s ban, which had been blocked by a federal judge, to take effect.