A federal court has permanently struck down Arkansas' ban on gender transition procedures for minors. The law violated the rights of Arkansas children and their parents, as well as the rights of health care providers, held the court, finding that the ban went against the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, Due Process Clause, and First Amendment.
In 2021, Arkansas banned the prescribing of puberty blockers or hormone treatments to address gender dysphoria in minors, as well as surgical interventions for transgender kids. The law also banned health care providers from referring minors to doctors who would provide gender transition treatments. The state's Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, vetoed the measure, saying it would create "new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters concerning our young people." But the legislature had enough votes to override that veto.
