Ban on gender reassignment surgery and puberty blockers for minors in Indiana upheld by court

An Indiana law banning gender-affirming care for minors can remain in effect, a federal appeals court has ruled months after the ban took effect.

A panel of judges from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Wednesday that the law’s restrictions are within the purview of the Indiana General Assembly and do not infringe on the constitutional rights of transgender children, their parents or medical providers . The Times of Northwest Indiana reported.

Wednesday’s ruling follows a February decision by the Chicago-based appeals court, which allowed the law to take effect by lifting a temporary injunction that had blocked it. The new ruling ends that order and permanently authorizes state officials to enforce the law.

Indiana’s law took effect in the spring of 2023 amid a national push from the Republican Party-led Legislature to restrict LGBTQ+ rights.

The law was scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2023, but the month before, U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued an order blocking most of the law from taking effect. Hanlon blocked the state from banning minors’ access to hormone therapies and puberty blockers, but left the law’s ban on gender-affirming surgeries in place.

Hanlon’s order had also blocked provisions of the law that would prohibit Indiana doctors from communicating with out-of-state physicians about gender-affirming care for their patients under age 18.

As of 2021, more than two dozen states have passed laws restricting or banning such treatments, even though they have been available in the United States for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical associations.

Most of these state bans on gender-affirming care for minors have been challenged with lawsuits.

Following the appeals court ruling in February, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana called the decision “heartbreaking” for transgender youth, their doctors and families.

The civil rights organization also said it would “continue to challenge this law until it is finally defeated and Indiana is made a safer place to raise every family.”

When asked for comment Thursday, including whether the ACLU of Indiana would appeal the decision, spokesperson Laura Forbes responded: “We are weighing our options.”

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a conservative Republican, said Wednesday in a message on ”

“By rejecting our common-sense state law’s ban, dangerous and irreversible gender transition procedures for minors will continue to be prohibited in Indiana,” he added.