Judge hears arguments on request to block Alabama ban on medical treatments for transgender minors – By Mike Cason (AL.com) / May 4, 2022
A federal judge heard arguments today in a lawsuit to block Alabama’s new felony ban on medical treatments to help minors with gender dysphoria transition to the gender they identify with.
The Alabama Legislature passed the law last month. It is scheduled to take effect Sunday.
U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke heard arguments at the federal courthouse in Montgomery from lawyers representing four parents of transgender minors who filed the lawsuit. Other plaintiffs in the case include a doctor who provides the treatments, a child psychologist, and a minister. The U.S. Department of Justice is also asking the judge to block the law, saying it violates equal protection rights.
The law makes it a felony to provide puberty blocking medications or hormones or to perform surgeries on transgender minors to help them transition. Proponents of the law, called the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, say it is intended to protect minors from the long-term effects of medical treatments they might later regret.
