Indiana Ban on Transgender Treatments for Minors Can Be Enforced, Court Rules

Hormonal treatments for minors can cause bone damage, stroke, and infertility, Indiana’s Deputy Solicitor General James Barta said.

The law bans hormone treatments and puberty blockers aimed at minors in addition to continuing the prohibition on gender transition surgeries. File photo/Shutterstock

An appeals court reversed a district court ruling against an Indiana law seeking to ban gender transition procedures for minors, allowing the regulations to come into effect.

In April last year, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law SB 480, prohibiting physicians and other medical practitioners from knowingly offering “gender transition procedures” to people younger than 18, even if there was parental consent.

While the bill was set to become law in July, in June, a federal district judge blocked portions of the law banning puberty blockers and hormone treatments after a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). It allowed the ban on gender transition surgeries.

On Feb. 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit stayed the injunction, allowing the law to fully take effect. As such, the law will now also ban giving hormone treatments and puberty blockers to minors in addition to continuing the prohibition on gender transition surgeries.

The appeals court, composed of a panel of three circuit judges, did not state the reason for lifting the ban.

“An opinion from this court will follow. A judgment in this case will issue with that opinion,” the court order stated. Two of the panel judges were appointed by Republican presidents.

Before the appellate panel, ACLU attorney Kenneth Falk claimed that the ban went against the medical consensus that puberty blockers and hormone therapies are beneficial to minors.

“The statute here bans the care that is widely recognized as essential to treat transgender dysphoric youth,” he said, according to Courthouse News. “Despite the state’s attempt to say that there is an even dispute on each side, this treatment is endorsed by every major medical organization in the United States.”

Indiana Deputy Solicitor General James Barta argued the state has the right to regulate the behavior of medical practitioners and that science was on their side.

“As the district court recognized, children who take hormones for transitioning run a real risk of bone damage, stroke, and infertility,” he said. “Systematic reviews of the scientific literature have found no evidence to support claims of psychological benefits.”

The appeal has the backing of 21 Republican-led states that filed amicus briefs on the issue.

In a Feb. 27 statement, the ACLU called the ruling “beyond disappointing and a heartbreaking development for thousands of transgender youth, their doctors, and their families.”

“As we and our clients consider our next steps, we want all the transgender youth of Indiana to know this fight is far from over and we will continue to challenge this law until it is permanently defeated and Indiana is made a safer place to raise every family,” the ACLU stated.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita praised the court decision.

“Our commonsense state law, banning dangerous and irreversible gender-transition procedures for minors, is now enforceable following the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal’s newest order,” he said in a Feb. 28 post on social media platform X.

“We are proud to win this fight against the radicals who continue pushing this horrific practice on our children for ideological and financial reasons.”

Harmful Transgender Procedures

In addition to banning medical practitioners from directly offering gender treatments to minors, SB 480 also prohibited them from aiding or abetting other individuals providing such services.

Mr. Holcomb justified the bill when he signed it into law in April 2023, stating that “permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelong impacts and medically prescribed preparation for such a transition should occur as an adult, not as a minor.”

Like Indiana, 22 other states have enacted laws limiting or outright banning gender transition procedures for minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. Some of these bans are in limbo because of lawsuits.

The bans and lawsuits come as many experts are sounding the alarm about offering gender transition treatments to children.

This month, the American College of Pediatricians issued a statement saying: “There is no long-term evidence that mental health concerns are decreased or alleviated after ‘gender-affirming therapy’ (GAT). Many individuals who have been treated with ‘GAT’ later regret those interventions and seek to align their gender identity with their sex.”

The statement came after the organization conducted a review of more than 60 studies.

“We urge medical professionals and parents to affirm the truth about childhood gender dysphoria in the presence of harmful thoughts and address the underlying mental illness, adverse events, and family dysfunction,” Dr. Jane Anderson, lead author and vice president of the organization, said.

A study published last year found that transgender surgery rates in the United States tripled between 2016 and 2019 among individuals of all ages. The most popular operation among minors was top surgery, which refers to the removal or creation of breasts. Top surgeries among minors spiked more than fivefold.

In a recent appearance on the podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Dr. Phil McGraw, host of the talk show “Dr. Phil,” criticized medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association for promoting transgender procedures for children.