A lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ unique ban on gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender youth was filed Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Little Rock.

The Arkansas Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit to block the implementation of the law, which it says would prohibit healthcare professionals from providing or referring transgender youth to health care. medically necessary health. GOP-sponsored legislation prohibits providing surgeries – which are not currently performed on children in the state – and hormones to people under the age of 18.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the families of four transgender youth living in Arkansas and two doctors and their patients.

The lawsuit named Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas State Medical Board Director Amy Embry, and the 14 state medical board members as defendants.

He alleges that in addition to violating the equal protection clause, the law violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the free speech protections of the First Amendment.

The lawsuit asks the court to render a judgment declaring that the law is inapplicable because of the constitutional violations it presents, and that preliminary and permanent injunctions be granted to block its implementation. The complaint also requests that the complainants receive monetary compensation for costs and expenses, including legal fees.

In a press release, the Arkansas ACLU said the law – Law 626 of 2021 – also prohibits any state funds or health care insurance coverage claiming sex for transgender people. under the age of 18 and would allow private insurers to refuse such coverage. affirming the care of people of all ages, calling it a violation of the US Constitution.

In the statement, the ACLU said the law “violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it discriminates on the basis of sex and transgender status by banning certain medical treatments only for transgender patients and only when care is’ linked to gender transition ‘,’ ‘it violates the parental autonomy of complainant parents guaranteed by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and it violates all protections of complainants’ freedom of expression by under the First Amendment. “

Holly Dickson, executive director of the Arkansas ACLU, said if the law were allowed to go into effect, it would force many families of transgender youth to leave the state to seek appropriate medical care.

“Gender-affirming care is vital care for our clients, and they are terrified of what will happen if this law is allowed to go into effect,” Dickson said. “No child should be deprived of the medical care they need or be deprived of their basic right to be themselves – but this law would do both. We are suing to prevent this cruel and unconstitutional law from taking effect and inflicting further harm on them. children and their families. “

House Bill 1570 – officially known as the “Saving Teens from Experimentation (SAFE) Act” was introduced on February 25, 2021 by Representative Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs. It passed the House on March 10 by a 70-22 vote, passed in the Senate nine days later by a 28-7 vote, and was vetoed by Governor Asa Hutchinson on April 5. Less than 24 hours later, both houses voted by overwhelming margins to override the governor’s veto, making law Law 626 of 2021.

The law is due to go into effect on July 28 unless the court intervenes.

The law would ban the use of hormones and drugs that block puberty for young people and ban any type of sex-affirming surgical procedure, even if such procedures are not provided for young people in the state. The law would also ban insurance coverage for gender affirmation treatment for young people and remove any requirement that insurance companies provide coverage for gender affirmation procedures in general.

Leading medical associations consider gender affirming best treatment practices and potentially life-saving care that positively affect mental health outcomes. Treatments that the law would ban as experiments are some that gender-diverse health care experts say have been used successfully for decades.

Last month, the American Medical Association – in a letter to the National Governors Association – urged governors to oppose state legislation that would ban medically necessary gender-related care for patients minors.

“Empirical evidence has shown that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations in human identity and expression,” the AMA wrote in the letter. “All of the major medical associations in the United States recognize the medical need for transitional care to improve the physical and mental health of transgender people.”

In an emailed statement to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Rutledge vowed to stand up for the law.

“I will aggressively defend Arkansas law which strongly restricts permanent, life-changing sexual changes for teens,” Rutledge said in the statement. “I will not stand idly by while radical groups such as the ACLU use our children as pawns for their own social agenda.”

“I encourage the Attorney General to read the complaint and the stories of the children who have already been traumatized by this law and think about how these children, their families and their doctors are challenging this law,” Dickson said. “All the major medical associations oppose this bill and disagree with the attorney general.”

Dickson said Arkansas is the first and so far the only state in the country to pass a law as restrictive as the SAFE Act.