Federal Court Rules Arkansas Can Finally Enforce Ban on Transgender Mutilation of Children
Arkansas' 2021 SAFE Act was the first ban on "transitioning" minors in America. In 2025, it can finally be enforced.
[LifeSiteNews.com] A federal court has cleared Arkansas to finally begin enforcing its ban on "gender transition" procedures for minors, four years after it became law. (Image: Pexels)
Enacted in 2021 when the legislature overrode a veto from former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a liberal Republican, the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act makes it illegal for doctors to prescribe puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or transgender surgeries for people under the age of 18, as well as to make referrals for such procedures. It was the first state law of its kind but quickly became tied up in legal challenges.
On Tuesday, however, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals voted 8-2 to overturn a lower-court ruling against the law, finding that banning procedures for minors did not violate gender-confused Americans' equal-protection rights, as it "classifies based on age and medical procedure, not sex." The ruling cited a June ruling by the US Supreme Court upholding a similar law from Tennessee.
"The question is whether this Nation's history and tradition, as well as its historical understanding of ordered liberty, support the right of a parent to obtain for his or her child a medical treatment that, although the child desires it and a doctor approves, the state legislature deems inappropriate for minors," Judge Duane Benton wrote for the majority. "This court finds no such right in this Nation's history and tradition."
"I applaud the court's decision recognizing that Arkansas has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological health of children and am pleased that children in Arkansas will be protected from risky, experimental procedures with lifelong consequences," Arkansas Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin responded. "Act 626 was passed by the Arkansas General Assembly in 2021 and was subsequently challenged in court. Today's decision is the culmination of many years of tireless and skillful legal work by this office."... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
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