Shortly after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the ban into law several parents sued the state on behalf of their transgender children. On May 13, Judge Liles Burke of the Middle District of Alabama blocked the portions of the law that banned cross-sex hormonal treatments.
In his decision, Burke, a Trump appointee, said that portions of the Alabama law are likely unconstitutional and that the hormonal treatment ban presented an “imminent threat” of “severe physical and/or psychological harm” to parents and children.
Burke’s injunction was lifted by the 11th Circuit on Monday, because, the ruling said, “states have a compelling interest in protecting children from drugs, particularly those for which there is uncertainty regarding benefits, recent surges in use, and irreversible effects.”
The three-judge panel also said that it is “highly doubtful” that the portions of the law blocked by Burke would not withstand constitutional review.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who has been advocating for the law in court, celebrated the 11th Circuit’s decision in a Tuesday press release, saying it was “a significant victory for our country, for children, and for common sense.”
“The Eleventh Circuit reinforced that the state has the authority to safeguard the physical and psychological well-being of minors, even if the United States attorney general and radical interest groups disapprove,” Marshall added. “Alabama takes this responsibility seriously by forbidding doctors from prescribing minors sex-modification procedures that have permanent and often irreversible effects.”