This blog originally appeared at ABC On Your Side.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, located in Little Rock, has approved Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s request for a comprehensive review by the entire court (known as an en banc review). This review pertains to a prior court order that had prevented the enforcement of the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act (SAFE Act).
The SAFE Act, a law in Arkansas, restricts doctors from administering transgender treatments, including hormone therapy, puberty blockers, or surgery, to minors.
Arkansas stands as the first state to make such an attempt to implement such a ban.
In August 2022, a three-judge panel from the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judge’s decision to temporarily halt the enforcement of the 2021 law.
In June 2023, U.S. District Judge Jay Moody issued a permanent injunction against the Arkansas law, deeming it unconstitutional.
In a historic decision recognizing the importance of the defense of the SAFE Act, the Eighth Circuit has granted initial en banc review. I am very pleased with today’s order as it allows my office to continue fighting to protect our state’s children from dangerous medical experimentation,” Griffin said in a press release.
Dylan Brandt speaks at a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Little Rock, Ark., July 21, 2021. Brandt, a teenager, is among several transgender youth and families who are plaintiffs challenging a state law banning gender-confirming care for trans minors. The nation’s first trial over a state’s ban on gender-confirming care for children begins in Arkansas on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, the latest fight over restrictions on transgender youth championed by Republican leaders and widely condemned by medical experts.
Two other federal courts of appeal have already allowed similar laws protecting children from experimental gender-transition procedures in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama to go into effect. I thank Solicitor General Nicholas Bronni, Deputy Solicitor General Dylan Jacobs and their team for the great work to secure this order for initial en banc review,” Griffin said.
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