A federal judge ruled against a petition Tuesday by the Department of Justice(DOJ) to halt a lawsuit against Alabama’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors, according to CBS News.
The DOJ filed a lawsuit against the state in April 2022 over a state law passed earlier that month prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change medical procedures on minors. The DOJ asked a district court to halt the lawsuit temporarily to await decisions in similar cases in Kentucky and Tennessee since “this exceptional legal landscape is quickly evolving,” but the judge declined the request, according to CBS News. (RELATED: Hospital Suspected Of Illegally Transitioning Kids Sues Red State AG To Block Patient Records)
Judge Liles Burke of the Northern District of Alabama, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2017, ordered that for the time being the case should move forward, while noting that if the Kentucky and Tennessee appellate courts approve petitions to hear those cases then the issue can be revisited, according to CBS News. The Alabama case is currently scheduled to go to trial in April 2024.
People, many of whom are adolescents, gather during a rally to protest the passing of SB 150 on March 29, 2023, at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky. SB 150, which was proposed by State Senator Max Wise (R-KY), is criticized by many as a “Don’t Say Gay” bill and was vetoed by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear during the General Assembly. Lawmakers may override this veto, passing the bill into law. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
The bill makes “practices to alter or affirm minor’s sexual identity or perception such as prescribing puberty-blocking medication or surgeries” a class C felony and punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to the text. Kentucky, Tennessee and 20 other states have passed similar legislation over the last several years barring medical professionals from performing sex-change procedures on minors, according to CBS News.
In April, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against Tennessee, arguing that the law prohibited “medically necessary treatment” and attacked parents’ “fundamental rights to obtain medically necessary care for their adolescent children.” The following month, the ACLU filed a second lawsuit against the state of Kentucky over its ban, claiming it “will cause severe and irreparable harm.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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