Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin is appealing a federal judge's June ruling that struck down Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming health care treatments for transgender youths.
Griffin filed a notice of appeal Thursday, which sends the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.
"This is the next step in our fight to protect our state's children," Griffin said in a social media comment announcing the appeal.
Griffin's notice of appeal, which came a month after U.S. District Judge James Moody ruled against the Arkansas law, was expected. The Republican attorney general said he planned to challenge the ruling in a statement released shortly after Moody issued his decision.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs including several transgender youths, said the appeal "is predictable and severely misguided."
"Politicians need to read and heed the judge's order, be honest with the public about the safety of this life-saving care and stop bullying young Arkansans and their families," said Holly Dickson, executive director of the organization, in a statement provided Friday through a spokesperson.
In his ruling, Moody held that Act 626 of 2021, dubbed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, violated the equal protection clause, the due process clauses and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The decision came after Moody granted a temporary injunction two years ago in July to block the law from going into effect until the case was resolved.
Griffin's appeal will not be the first time the case has appeared before the 8th Circuit. Last year, a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld Moody's temporary injunction. An appeal by the state for a hearing before the full court was rejected.
If Act 626 goes into effect, it would prohibit doctors from providing or referring transgender young people for health care related to the medically recognized condition known as "gender dysphoria." Gender dysphoria, according to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics.
The law would bar physicians from providing gender-affirming surgeries, hormones and puberty-blocking drugs for patients younger than 18. Republican super-majorities in the state House and Senate passed the legislation and overrode a veto by former Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2021.
Several states have instituted bans on gender-affirming care for youths. Three in 10 transgender youths ages 13-17 live in states that have passed prohibitions on gender-affirming care, according to the Human Rights Campaign website.
Last month, Dylan Brandt, the plaintiff for whom the lawsuit is named, expressed gratitude for Moody's ruling.
"I'm so grateful the judge heard my experience of how this health care has changed my life for the better and saw the dangerous impact this law could have on my life and that of countless other transgender people," Brandt said in a news release.
Donnie Saxton, the father of 18-year-old Parker Saxton, could barely contain his excitement when reached by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on the phone after the ruling.
"Everything is perfect, it couldn't be better right now," Saxton said.
Information for this article was contributed by Dale Ellis of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.