Federal Court Continues to Debate Fate of Arkansas’ SAFE Act

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On Monday, attorneys suing to overturn an Arkansas law protecting children from sex-change procedures filed a letter with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The letter cites the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Kadel v. Folwell. The letter argues that laws protecting children from sex-change procedures trigger heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause. It is part of the ongoing lawsuit over Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

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.

Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been tied up in court for more than two years. However, federal appeals courts have let similar laws 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 all the long-term effects these procedures can have on children, but 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.

Since then, the U.K. has joined a growing list of jurisdictions that protect children from puberty blockers, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added a warning label to puberty blockers after discovering they caused some biological girls to experience swelling in the brain.

Over the past three years, reports from Europe and elsewhere have shown time and again that Arkansas was right to pass the SAFE Act. Today about half the states in the U.S. have passed laws protecting children from sex-change surgeries.

We believe our courts ultimately will recognize that the SAFE Act is a good law and uphold it as constitutional.

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

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British MP Acknowledges Truth of the Cass Review: Guest Column

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The Cass Review, “the most extensive and thorough … evidence-based review of treatment for children experiencing gender distress ever undertaken,” landed like a bombshell in the U.K. The report’s main conclusion is that science is not settled about “gender-affirming” treatments of minors. In fact, Dr. Cass concluded that “for most young people, a medical pathway will not be the best way to manage their gender-related distress.” 

As expected, the reaction from LGBTQ advocates was swift and shrill, attempting to discredit The Cass Review. For example, British MP Dawn Butler claimed that Dr. Cass left out 100 studies from the report. It turns out she simply repeated a social media post of a pro-LGBTQ organization without fact-checking the claim or reading the report. 

After being corrected by Dr. Cass and others, Butler admitted her mistake and apologized for “inadvertently [misleading]” the House. Good for her. She’s given us an example of the power of truth to change hearts and minds. 

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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U.K. Medical Report Shows Glaring Problems With Subjecting Children to Puberty Blockers, Hormones, and Sex-Change Surgeries

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Earlier this month Dr. Hilary Cass — a former president of the U.K.’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health — released her final report on how to improve National Health Services “gender identity services.”

In 2022 the NHS closed its Tavistock gender clinic after a government investigation revealed healthcare professionals had pressured families into subjecting their children to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones despite inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria and an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the “treatments.”

Now Dr. Cass’ 388-page report highlights glaring problems with giving children cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers and with subjecting children to sex-change surgeries.

A few of her key findings include:

  • There is no simple explanation for the sudden increase in the numbers of children and teens — especially adolescent girls — who identify as transgender.
  • There is a lack of reliable studies and evidence in favor of gender transition for children.
  • Giving cross-sex hormones to children “presents many unknowns.”
  • Doctors don’t know with any certainty if gender dysphoria in a child will continue into adulthood.
  • For most children and young adults, sex-change procedures are not the best way to manage gender dysphoria.

The British Medical Journal summarized Dr. Cass’s report by saying, ” Without doubt, the advocacy and clinical practice for medical treatment of gender dysphoria [through puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery] had moved ahead of the evidence—a recipe for harm.”

The U.K. has already closed its Tavistock gender clinic and taken steps to protect children from cross-sex hormones. Other countries — like Sweden and Finland — have taken similar actions.

While European countries work to protect children from sex-change procedures, the United States still lags behind. Gender clinics in America still encourage children with gender dysphoria to follow a three-step transition process:

  1. Social transition, where a child is treated like a member of the opposite sex.
  2. Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
  3. Sex-change surgery.

These procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life, and doctors don’t know the long-term consequences they may have for children. That is why to date about half the states in the U.S. have passed laws protecting children from sex-change surgeries.

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.

Over the past three years, reports from Europe and elsewhere have shown time and again that Arkansas was right to pass the SAFE Act.

Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been tied up in court since 2021, and a federal judge in Little Rock has blocked the state from enforcing the law. However, the case has been appealed to the Eighth Circuit.

We believe our courts ultimately will recognize that the SAFE Act is a good law and uphold it as constitutional.

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

READ MORE