A federal judge restored a Georgia law banning transgender hormone treatments for minors in the state on Tuesday after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a similar Alabama law.
Georgia’s Republican-backed SB 140 bans licensed medical professionals from providing minor patients with cross-sex hormone therapy in the state, with potential criminal and civil penalties for healthcare providers found flaunting the law. Though the law went into effect in July, a legal challenge brought in June ultimately allowed U.S. District Judge Sarah Geraghty, an appointee of President Joe Biden, to block its enforcement beginning on August 20.
That changed after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in Atlanta and also hears cases in Georgia, vacated a temporary injunction against a similar law in Alabama on August 21. The panel determined states have “a compelling interest in protecting children from drugs,” especially those with “uncertainty regarding benefits, recent surges in use, and irreversible effects,” according to local media.
Following that ruling, made just the day after she prohibited enforcement of the Georgia law, Geraghty acknowledged on Tuesday that her “order rests on legal grounds that have been squarely rejected by the panel” on the 11th Circuit in the Alabama decision in a court filing, according to CNN, adding that it was “prudent to await further developments” in the Alabama case “before adjudicating the motion to reconsider.”
Georgia asked Garaghty to go further and vacate her previous injunction following the higher court decision. Still, Kara Richardson, a spokesman for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R), said the office was pleased with the outcome and “will continue fighting to protect the health and well-being of Georgia’s children,” according to a statement reviewed by The Associated Press.
Kemp signed the bill into law this March, adding Georgia to the list of 20 states with laws aimed at preventing children from receiving the controversial treatments.
Though proponents of transgender hormone treatments for children insist the drugs’ effects are reversible, critics maintain some of their effects are permanent, and worse, assert that the drugs may cause debilitating, life-long health issues.
Earlier this year, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was sued by the America First Legal (AFL) group for allegedly withholding records detailing off-label use of hormones, primarily puberty blockers, by underaged children. Studies have tied some transgender drugs to sterilization, weight gain, blood clots, high blood pressure, and depression, while other studies have shown no correlation between the transgender suicide rate and treatment received.
Further complicating the matter, some studies seem to suggest many patients receiving transgender treatments will later opt to discontinue them.
A study of children and spouses receiving “gender-affirming hormones” from the U.S. Military Healthcare System found that nearly one-third of patients stopped taking the prescribed drugs within four years. That study seemed to mirror another, smaller study that found 29 percent of youths at Children’s National Hospital, in Washington, D.C., had “reported a shift in request” for transgender treatments.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
