SAFE Act – Page 24 – Family Council

Kentucky Lawmakers File Measures Similar to Arkansas’ SAFE Act

Jan 17, 2022Jerry CoxLGBTLGBT, SAFE Act, Transgender

Last week lawmakers in Kentucky filed legislation similar to Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

Kentucky’s proposed S.B. 84 and H.B. 253 protect children from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

The measures are similar to Arkansas’ SAFE Act that lawmakers passed last spring.

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act is an excellent law. Like these proposals in Kentucky, it protects children in Arkansas from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

However, the ACLU and others filed a lawsuit against the SAFE Act, and last July a federal judge in Little Rock temporarily blocked the state from enforcing this good law.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has appealed that order to the Eighth Circuit. A trial in the case will take place during the week of July 25, 2022.

Unfortunately, several business interests and the Biden-Harris Administration also have joined the fight against Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

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

That’s also why a major hospital in Sweden announced last year that it would no longer administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.

Gender-transition hormones and procedures can leave children sterilized and permanently scarred. It’s good to see state lawmakers propose legislation to protect children from these hormones and procedures.

White House Lists Its Fight Against Arkansas’ SAFE Act Among Its Pro-LGBT Work

Nov 24, 2021Jerry CoxLGBTLGBT, SAFE Act, Transgender

Over the weekend the Biden-Harris Administration released a report “Memorializing Transgender Day of Remembrance” and touting the White House’s pro-LGBT activism.

Among other things, the report highlight’s the administration work to undermine Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act in federal court, calling the SAFE Act “discriminatory and unconstitutional.”

The SAFE Act is a 2021 law that protects children in Arkansas from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

The law passed with overwhelming support in the Arkansas Legislature. However, the ACLU filed a lawsuit to have the SAFE Act struck down, and the law currently is tied up in federal court.

In June President Biden’s U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest opposing Arkansas’ SAFE Act in federal court.

The DOJ’s statement of interest calls sex-reassignment procedures “life-saving care” and argues that the SAFE Act violates the U.S. Constitution.

It also claims that Arkansas’ reasons for supporting the SAFE Act are “mere pretext for animus against transgender minors” — in other words, that Arkansas’ lawmakers passed the SAFE Act because they secretly hate transgender children.

The fact of the matter is researchers do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have on kids. Doctors are giving these hormones to children off-label, in a manner the FDA never intended.

That is why many experts agree that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children is experimental, at best.

That’s also why a major hospital in Sweden announced last spring that it would no longer administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.

It is deeply disappointing that the federal government would continue using taxpayer resources to oppose a state law that protects children from experimentation. Fortunately, Arkansas is fighting back, and we believe the federal courts ultimately will uphold this good law.