Georgia Northern District Court Judge Sarah Geraghty announced Tuesday that she would place a stay on her previous injunction on Aug. 20 that blocked a Georgia law preventing hormone treatment of minors.
Geraghty, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, released the stay following a decision from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 21 that removed a similar injunction on an Alabama law, according to the order. She had previously placed an injunction on the Georgia law on the grounds that it violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause because it prevented minors from receiving hormone replacement treatment in the state. (RELATED: Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Red State Ban On Sex Change Hormones For Minors)
“It is undisputed that this Court’s preliminary injunction order rests on legal grounds that have been squarely rejected by the panel in Eknes-Tucker, and that this Court’s injunction cannot stand on the bases articulated in the order,” Geraghty wrote.
Breaking: Hormone replacement therapy for transgender minors is again BLOCKED in Georgia and SB-140 can be enforced again in full.
Judge Geraghty has STAYED her earlier preliminary injunction after the 11th Circuit Court allowed a similar law in Alabama to go into effect. pic.twitter.com/wAjhEIyR8H
— Sam Gringlas (@gringsam) September 5, 2023
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), who represents the plaintiffs in the case, had asked Geraghty to allow the injunction to stand until the 11th Circuit Court hears all of the arguments related to the Alabama law, but she rejected this appeal since the 11th Circuit Court’s decision created “binding precedent,” the Georgia Recorder reported. The SPLC condemned the 11th Circuit Court’s decision as illegitimate and devastating, according to a statement from the group.
“These laws are a shocking example of government overreach and a jarring intrusion into private family decisions,” SPLC said in the statement. “This case is far from over, and we will continue to aggressively seek legal protection for these families.”
Geraghty said she would wait to reconsider the injunction and the stay to see if the plaintiffs in the Alabama case filed for a rehearing and if the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to rehear the case, according to the order. Plaintiffs in the Alabama case will have 45 days to appeal the court’s decision.
The Northern District Court of Georgia declined to comment on the matter. The SPLC and the Georgia District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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