gender affirming care
Arkansas governor signs law allowing malpractice suits for transgender minors’ health care
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law Monday that opens the door for medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors. Senate Bill 199, now Act 274, creates civil liability for a doctor who “performs a gender transition procedure on a minor … if the minor is injured, including without […]
Bill allowing malpractice suits for transgender minors’ health care goes to Sanders’ desk
A proposed law that would open the door for medical malpractice lawsuits against Arkansas doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors passed the House on Wednesday and will go to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk. Senate Bill 199 would create civil liability for a doctor who “performs a gender transition procedure on a minor […]
Arkansas Senate approves bill allowing malpractice suits for transgender minors’ health care
A proposed law that would allow medical malpractice lawsuits against Arkansas doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors passed the Senate on Tuesday with a party-line vote and will go to the House for consideration. Senate Bill 199 would create civil liability for a doctor who “performs a gender transition procedure on a minor […]
Arkansas bill allowing malpractice suits for transgender minors’ health care passes committee
A proposed law that would open the door for medical malpractice lawsuits against Arkansas doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and will go to the full Senate for a vote. Senate Bill 199 would create civil liability for a doctor who “performs a gender transition procedure […]
“Gutted” Arkansas bill no longer targets drag performers or LGBTQ community, activists say
Arkansas legislators amended a bill that originally would have restricted where drag performances can be held but now does not mention the word “drag” at all. Activists who have opposed Senate Bill 43 since it was introduced in January say the heavily amended language no longer targets LGBTQ Arkansans. The bill was amended Thursday for […]
Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth awaits court ruling
*This story was updated at 6:25 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, with additional details from Thursday’s testimony. Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender minors awaits a decision from a federal judge after the defense rested its case Thursday. The proceedings lasted eight days, four in October and four in November, as the […]
“Detransitioned” adults defend Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors
Two individuals who “detransitioned,” or lived as transgender but now live as their gender assigned at birth, testified in favor of the Arkansas law banning gender-affirming health care for transgender minors Wednesday in federal court. Plaintiffs’ attorney Aviv Halpern asked Laura Perry Smalts of Oklahoma City if she was assigned female at birth. “I was […]
Judge, attorneys scrutinize witness expertise in trial on Arkansas transgender law
A federal judge and plaintiffs’ attorneys expressed frustration at testimony Tuesday from defense witnesses in the ongoing trial challenging Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. A sociologist and a plastic surgeon, called by lawyers for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office in defense of the 2021 law, expressed doubts about the safety and effectiveness […]
Trial challenging Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors resumes
The trial against Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender youth resumed Monday with the second witness for the defense, led by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office. Monday’s witness was Dr. Stephen Levine, an Ohio-based psychiatrist with a focus on sexual dysfunction and “transsexualism,” as transgender identity was called in the 1970s when his […]
Arkansas’ request for rehearing on gender-law injunction denied
A temporary halt on enforcement of Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors remains in effect after a federal appeals court on Wednesday denied the state’s request for a rehearing. In August, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s injunction that blocked implementation of Act 626 of […]
State begins defense of ban against gender-affirming care for minors
This article was updated at 7:35 p.m. Oct. 22, 2022, for minor edits. The trial against Arkansas’ ban of gender-affirming health care for minors recessed Friday afternoon until late November, following a morning highlighted by over two hours of closed-door testimony involving private medical information. Lawyers from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office began their defense […]
Trial challenging gender-affirming health care ban for transgender minors resumes Friday
The legal challenge to Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender minors continues today in federal court, with lawyers from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office set to present a case to enact the 2021 law. Act 626, known as the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, prohibits physicians from providing “gender transition” treatments such […]