Tag: SAFE Act

Supreme Court Case Could Decide Future of Arkansas’ SAFE Act

A case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court could decide the future of Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation — or SAFE — Act is a 2021 law that protects children in Arkansas from sex-change procedures, puberty-blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

The law passed with overwhelming support in the Arkansas Legislature, but it has been blocked in federal court for more than three years.

To date, roughly half the states in America have passed laws similar to the SAFE Act — including Ohio, Wyoming, Tennessee, and many others.

The Biden Administration has gone to court to stop Tennessee’s law protecting children from sex-change surgeries, and that case has worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the lawsuit, where CNN reports the justices “expressed deep skepticism” about the Biden Administration’s arguments against the law. If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Tennessee’s law, it could pave the way for federal courts to uphold Arkansas’ SAFE Act and the similar laws that other states have passed.

Sex-change procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones can leave children scarred, sterilized, and at risk of serious health conditions.

Doctors do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones might have on people, but files recently leaked from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) organization make it clear that medical professionals performing gender-transitions on kids have been fully aware that these procedures can lead to lasting regret and complications — some of which may even be life-threatening.

Since 2021, a major hospital in Sweden has announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids, the U.K. has adopted policies 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.

Reports show that since 2019, doctors in Arkansas have given dozens of children puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones. Some children even have undergone sex-change surgeries. Arkansas — and other states — need to be able to protect these children.

It may be several months before the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision over Tennessee’s law, but we trust that our federal courts ultimately will recognize that the SAFE Act and the many laws like it are constitutional and let states protect children from sex-change procedures.

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

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Federal Court Rules Indiana Can Protect Children from Sex-Change Procedures

Last week the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling effectively letting the State of Indiana protect children from sex-change procedures.

Joshua Arnold with The Washington Stand reports,

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld an Indiana law protecting minors from gender transition procedures last Wednesday. The appellate court had stayed a preliminary injunction that blocked all of the law except its prohibition on gender transition surgeries in a simple order on February 27, allowing the law to take effect. Wednesday’s ruling (K.C. v. Medical Licensing Board of Indiana) included a 50-page opinion for why the court reversed the lower court ruling, vacated the preliminary injunction, and remanded the lawsuit back to the district court.

In response to the ruling, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Vice President of Litigation Strategy and Center for Conscience Initiatives Jonathan Scruggs said,

“Indiana rightly enacted a law that protects the health and welfare of all children—supporting their natural biological development and ensuring that children experiencing gender dysphoria have a chance for comprehensive healing and compassionate mental health support. Relying on bad science, activists and the Biden-Harris administration have pushed these harmful procedures across the country and even taken steps to prevent state legislatures from regulating these procedures. These procedures have devastated countless lives, which is why countries that were previously leaders in so-called ‘gender affirming’ care are reversing course and curtailing these experimental efforts to alter children’s bodies. The 7th Circuit was on solid ground to uphold Indiana’s law that allows children to receive the help they need—safely.”

ADF filed a friend-of-the-court brief last year asking the court to let Indiana’s law to go into effect.

This is a significant victory.

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

Doctors do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones might have on people, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was prompted to add a warning label to puberty blockers after discovering they caused some biological girls to experience brain swelling.

Three years ago a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids. This year the United Kingdom announced a new policy protecting children from puberty-blocking drugs.

In 2021 the Arkansas Legislature overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act — a law very similar to Indiana’s. The SAFE Act is a good law that protects children in Arkansas from cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and sex-reassignment surgeries.

Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been blocked in court since 2021.

It’s good to see federal courts let Indiana protect children. We believe our federal courts ultimately will recognize that Arkansas’ 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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