Culture and Social Issues

Clinton-Appointed Judge Blocks Red State’s Child Sex Change Ban

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A federal judge in Idaho ruled on Tuesday against a state law banning children from receiving sex change procedures, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 71 in April, which made it a felony to provide hormone therapy, puberty blockers or sex change surgeries to minors. Clinton-appointed U.S. District Judge for the District of Idaho B. Lynn Winmill temporarily blocked the law from taking effect on Jan. 1 and ruled that the plaintiffs will likely succeed under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses, according to the Idaho Statesman.

“After carefully considering the voluminous evidence on this point, the court finds that the treatment for gender dysphoria — when provided in accordance with the guidelines published by (the World Professional Association for Transgender Health) and the Endocrine Society, and which may include medical interventions such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries — is safe, effective and medically necessary for some adolescents,” Winmill wrote in the ruling, according to the Idaho Statesman.

The lawsuit was filed in July by two families in the state with transgender children who are receiving transgender medical procedures, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

At least twenty-two states have passed restrictions on transgender procedures for minors, and some are unable to enforce the laws due to ongoing court cases.

Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Jay Moody struck down an Arkansas law in June that banned sex change procedures for children, including surgeries, hormones and puberty blockers. Judge Maria Cantú Hexsel of the State District Court in Travis County temporarily barred a law banning sex change procedures for children from taking effect in Texas in August.