Alabama can enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, appeals court rules

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that Alabama can begin enforcing a ban outlawing the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat transgender people under 19. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the state’s request to stay a preliminary injunction that had blocked Alabama from enforcing the 2022 law. The Thursday order will allow the ban to take effect immediately. State Attorney General Steve Marshall called the order a “significant victory for our country, for children, and for common sense.” Lawyers representing parents of transgender adolescents who challenged the Alabama ban say the decision will “hurt parents and children in the state.”