Georgia can resume ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth, judge says

The US state of Georgia can resume its ban on hormone replacement therapy for trangender people under the age of 18, a judge ruled on Tuesday, 5 September.

It comes after US District Judge Sarah Geraghty two weeks ago blocked enforcement of the law after determining that a group of parents and trans minors would probably succeed in arguing that it violated the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection.

However, after a three-judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court ruling blocking a similar law in Alabama, Judge Geraghty has stated that Senate Bill 140 can go back into effect in Georgia.

The panel in Alabama was made up entirely of judges appointed by Republican presidents.

READ MORE: Texas Supreme Court allows ban on gender-affirming care to take effect

In the wake of the ruling, Chris Carr, Georgia’s Republican attorney general, urged Geraghty to vacate her injunction.

Instead, she put it on hold, explaining that it “rests on legal grounds that have been squarely rejected by the panel” in Alabama’s case – but that there are further appeals underway in the state that could result in a possible rehearing.

Kara Richardson, Carr’s spokesperson, said he will “continue fighting to protect the health and well-being of Georgia’s children”.

More than 20 states have introduced laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for trans youth, many of which are currently under appeal.

The Texas Supreme Court recently allowed a new state law banning it to take effect on 1 September, prohibiting an array of medically-accepted treatments such as hormones and puberty blockers.

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