Bans on gender transition treatments for minors are in federal court this week. Such laws are becoming popular among conservative legislators across the U.S. The law in court this week comes from Arkansas, which in 2021 passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, a.k.a. Act 626.
Arkansas' Act 626 was the first in the country to prohibit doctors from providing "gender transition" care—which includes surgical procedures as well as less invasive options like puberty blockers and hormone treatments—to people under age 18. "Any referral for or provision of gender transition procedures to an individual under eighteen (18) year of age is unprofessional conduct and is subject to discipline by the appropriate licensing entity or disciplinary review board," states the law, which allows people to cite "an actual or threatened violation" of the law as a claim in civil lawsuits. It also allows the state attorney general to enforce compliance and states that health insurance plans "shall not include reimbursement for gender transition procedures for a [minor]."
