Judge declines to block North Dakota’s gender-affirming care ban

A North Dakota judge has denied a request to temporarily block a state law barring transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming medical care, leaving one of the nation’s strictest transgender medical care bans in place. Ta.

District Judge Jackson Lofgren on Monday denied a temporary restraining order sought in a September lawsuit by three North Dakota families with transgender children and a doctor who treats transgender youth. An additional preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for January.

“While we are disappointed in this decision, once all the evidence is presented, the court ultimately believes that permanently ending the medical ban is the only fair, equitable and constitutional solution. I am confident that we will determine that there is,” said Brittany Stewart, head of gender affairs. Justice, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. told the Associated Press on tuesday.

In his ruling, Lofgren cited the plaintiffs’ “nearly five-month delay” in filing their initial charges, and said the state’s new restrictions on puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries were a major blow to North America. They argued that it violated the constitutional rights of transgender youth in the Dakotas.

The law they are challenging, House Bill 1254, took effect in April, shortly after it was signed by Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate.

The bill would make it a misdemeanor to prescribe or administer puberty blockers, testosterone or estrogen to a transgender minor, punishable by up to 360 days in jail and a $3,000 fine. A medical professional who performs gender reassignment surgery on a minor commits a felony.

It remains legal to provide similar care to non-transgender children and adolescents in the state.

Gender-affirming health care for both transgender adults and minors is considered medically necessary. All major medical institutionsHowever, not all transgender people want or need medical treatment as part of their transition.

Since 2021, 22 states have passed laws that significantly limit or ban gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, including 19 states that took effect this year. The majority have been challenged in court, and medical bans passed in Montana and Indiana are currently blocked by court orders. A similar ban was partially blocked in Florida.

In June, a federal judge in Arkansas permanently blocked the state’s first-in-the-nation ban, ruling it unconstitutional.

Preliminary injunctions blocking enforcement of gender-affirming health care bans in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee were lifted by a federal appeals court over the summer. A federal judge in Georgia last month reinstated the state’s ban on puberty blockers and hormones, which a lower court had blocked in August.