Eighth Circuit to Hear Arguments in Lawsuit Over Arkansas Law Protecting Children From Sex-Change Surgeries

On Monday the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis scheduled oral arguments for next month in a lawsuit over whether or not Arkansas can protect children from sex-change procedures.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

The SAFE Act is a good law that prevents doctors in Arkansas from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. 

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

Researchers do not know all 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.

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. However, it’s worth noting that federal appeals courts have allowed similar laws to go into effect in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama.

That’s why Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office is appealing Arkansas’ case over the SAFE Act. Last Monday the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals announced it will hold oral arguments in the lawsuit at an en banc hearing on Thursday, April 11.

A growing body of scientific evidence shows children should not be subjected to sex-change procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

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, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to puberty blockers after discovering they caused some biological girls to experience swelling in the brain.

Files leaked from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) organization also reveal that medical professionals performing gender-transitions on kids have been fully aware that these procedures can lead to lasting regret and painful complications — some of which may even be life-threatening.

For example, the leaked files showed one WPATH doctor encountered a 16-year-old female patient who had “two [cancerous] liver masses [tumors]” and that girl’s oncologist and surgeon both agreed cross-sex hormones were to blame for the cancerous tumors.

Fortunately, 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 our federal 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.