Arkansas Urges Court to Uphold SAFE Act Following Supreme Court Ruling

On Thursday, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office made a filing with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in defense of the state’s law protecting children from sex-change procedures.

In 2021, Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Unfortunately, a federal judge blocked the law, and the SAFE Act is currently before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

However, on Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law protecting children from these same procedures, drugs, and hormones. That good ruling should pave the way for federal courts to let Arkansas enforce the SAFE Act as well.

On Thursday, Arkansas Solicitor General Autumn Hamit Patterson filed a letter with the Eighth Circuit informing the judges about the new court decision. The letter says the supreme court’s ruling reinforces the A.G.’s arguments that Arkansas’ SAFE Act is constitutional.

The letter notes that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tennessee’s law did not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity, and it argues that the SAFE Act should be upheld, in light of the ruling.

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

Last fall, medical experts at the organization Do No Harm released a report showing that from 2019 to 2023, dozens of children in Arkansas underwent sex-change surgeries or were prescribed puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

Doctors do not know the long-term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones might have on people. However, files 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.

In a comprehensive study published last year, Finnish researchers found transgender surgeries did not appear to resolve the underlying emotional and mental issues that youth with gender dysphoria faced.

And gender clinics have been shown to rush children and families through the transition process without adequate informed-consent and mental health screenings.

Arkansas — and other states — need to be able to protect children from these procedures.

It’s great to see Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office urging the Eighth Circuit to let the state enforce the SAFE Act.

Arkansas’ SAFE Act is a good law that protects children.

We believe the Eighth Circuit will recognize that fact and let the state enforce this good law.

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

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Law Protecting Children From Sex-Change Procedures

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Little Rock, Ark. — On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision upholding a Tennessee law that prohibits medical professionals from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

Family Council President Jerry Cox issued a statement, saying, “This is a victory for families and children everywhere. The court’s decision points out there are ‘fierce scientific and policy debates’ about performing sex-change surgeries on kids or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. In the past five years, public health experts in Europe and America have begun sounding the alarm about these procedures. The U.S. Supreme Court is doing the right thing by letting Tennessee protect children.”

Cox pointed out that Arkansas was the first state in the nation to pass a law protecting children from sex-change procedures. “In 2021, the Arkansas Legislature overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act. This good law protects children in Arkansas from puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries. Since then, roughly half the states in America have passed laws similar to the SAFE Act. Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been tied up in court since 2021. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee’s version of the SAFE Act, we believe Arkansas will be free to protect children from these procedures as well.”

Cox praised Arkansas’ lawmakers and attorney general for passing and defending the SAFE Act. “Arkansas’ lawmakers stood up for children by passing the SAFE Act in 2021. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has worked tirelessly to defend the SAFE Act in court. Since 2021, scientific research has continued to show Arkansas was right to pass a law protecting children from sex-change procedures. Public opinion polling shows Arkansans support laws like the SAFE Act. Today’s supreme court victory means Arkansas will be able to protect children. That is something to celebrate.”

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Southern Baptist Convention Affirms Biblical Views on Marriage, Gender-Identity

The Associated Press reports the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution affirming marriage as the union of one man and one woman and opposing transgender ideology during its annual meeting in Dallas on Tuesday.

The convention also hosted a conversation with Tennessee’s attorney general and with an Alliance Defending Freedom attorney regarding laws that protect children from sex-change procedures.

This month marks ten years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Obergefell v. Hodges decision that struck down state marriage laws nationwide.

From 2004 to 2015, voters in more than three-fifths of the country democratically passed laws and amendments defining marriage in their respective states. In most cases, those measures defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The Obergefell ruling nullified all of those state laws.

The Southern Baptist Convention’s resolution affirms biblical marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and it calls for the reversal of the supreme court’s bad Obergefell ruling. It also opposes the normalization of transgender ideology.

Some member of the media have seemed surprised the Sothern Baptist Convention would approve a resolution like this, but there really should not be anything shocking about a Christian denomination holding Christian beliefs on marriage and gender-identity.

In 2004, the SBC approved a pro-marriage resolution saying, “The union of one man and one woman is the only form of marriage prescribed in the Bible as God’s perfect design for the family.” That resolution also called for passage of a federal marriage amendment defining marriage in America as the union of one man and one woman.

In 2014, the convention approved a resolution affirming “God’s good design that gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception.”

In light of that, the SBC’s latest resolution isn’t exactly new.

Support for same-sex marriage has actually declined in recent years, and about half the states —including Arkansas — have passed laws protecting children from sex-change procedures. Many of the world’s leading health experts have found these procedures are dangerous. Americans have also expressed widespread backlash against corporations that pander to pro-LGBT groups.

Reversing the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision does not seem likely right now, but the same thing seemed true of Roe v. Wade 50 years ago. We appreciate the Southern Baptist Convention maintaining its biblical convictions regarding marriage and gender-identity.

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