Federal Lawsuit Continues Over Whether or Not Arkansas Can Protect Children From Sex-Change Surgeries

The federal lawsuit continues over whether or not Arkansas can enforce a law that protects children from sex-change surgeries and similar procedures.

Earlier this month the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s request for an en banc review in the lawsuit over Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

An en banc review means the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case instead of a three-judge panel.

The Arkansas Legislature overwhelmingly passed the SAFE Act in 2021. It’s a good law that prevents doctors from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. 

Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been tied up in court for more than two years, and a federal judge in Little Rock has blocked the state from enforcing the law.

In a statement, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office noted that federal appeals courts have allowed similar laws protecting children from gender-transition procedures to go into effect in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama.

Sex-change surgeries and procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life.

Researchers do not know the long term effects puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids. That is why many experts agree that subjecting children to sex-change procedures is experimental, at best.

Not long after Arkansas passed the SAFE Act, a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.

Last year the U.K.’s National Health Services closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years. Families have indicated the clinic subjected their children to sex-reassignment despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence to support the procedures and that healthcare providers failed to perform adequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

And last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to puberty blockers in America after biological girls developed swelling in the brain.

Interestingly, public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans saying it’s morally wrong to change genders.

The SAFE Act is good legislation that protects children. We believe higher courts will recognize that fact and uphold this law as constitutional.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.