North Dakota Judge Upholds Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Children
A North Dakota judge has upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for children, dealing a blow to families who have had to travel out of state to obtain medical treatments crucial for their kids’ well-being. District Judge Jackson Lofgren’s decision, announced on Wednesday, stated that the law discriminates based on age and medical purpose, not sex, and that there is little evidence the Legislature passed the law for “an invidious discriminatory purpose.”
The ruling means parents who decided to seek gender-affirming medical care for their children after the state’s ban took effect in April 2023 will need to continue doing so out of state. Judge Lofgren noted that “the evidence presented at trial establishes there is a legitimate concern regarding the capacity of minors to understand and appreciate the long-term consequences of the practices prohibited by the Health Care Law,” and that he doesn’t believe the law violates the state constitution.
Reaction from Families and Advocates
Jess Braverman, the legal director for the gender equity nonprofit Gender Justice, which represented the plaintiff, expressed disappointment and concern over the ruling. “This ruling is devastating for transgender youth and their families in North Dakota. The evidence in this case was overwhelming: this law inflicts real harm, strips families of their constitutional rights, and denies young people the medical care they need to thrive,” Braverman said in a statement.
Republican state Rep. Bill Tveit, who introduced the legislation, said he is pleased with the ruling, stating that “it’s a law that needs to be there. We need to protect our youth, and that’s what the whole goal of this thing was from the beginning.” The lawsuit was brought by several affected families and a pediatric endocrinologist, but the judge dismissed some of their claims and left only the physician as a plaintiff.
FILE – Parents Devon and Robert Dolney, stand with their child, Tate, center, during a news conference, Sept. 14, 2023, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)
About half of U.S. states, nearly all of which have fully Republican-led governments, have banned gender-affirming care for minors. North Dakota’s law makes it a misdemeanor for a health care provider to prescribe or give hormone treatments or puberty blockers to a transgender child. It also makes it a felony to perform gender-affirming surgery on a minor.
National Context and Implications
The law’s backers said it would protect children from what they said are irreversible effects of treatments and surgeries, though such surgeries were never available in the state. Opponents said the law harms transgender children by denying them crucial medical care. Although the law exempts children who were already receiving treatments before North Dakota’s ban took effect, attorneys for the families who sued said providers held off because they perceived the law as vague and didn’t want to risk it.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that states can ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. At least 27 states have adopted laws restricting or banning the care. For more information on this topic, you can visit the original article Here
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