A U.S. appeals court upheld an Indiana law barring minors from being able to access medicines to help them transition genders.
On Wednesday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cemented the new ban in a 2-1 ruling, which a lower court had previously blocked. Those challenging the ban have argued it infringes on parents' rights and discriminates "on the basis of sex" by prohibiting treatments based on one's gender.
"Courts have long permitted states to hold closely the power to regulate the practice of medicine. This power is strongest when the safety and effectiveness of the treatment is uncertain," Circuit Judge Michael Brennan wrote in the court's majority opinion. Meanwhile, Brennan also rejected the claim that the ban was discriminatory on the basis of sex, noting that the law "bars gender transition procedures regardless of whether the patient is a boy or a girl."
The 7th circuit's ruling Wednesday overturned an earlier ruling from a lower court that blocked the new ban on transgender medical treatments.
"The Seventh District Court of Appeal's decision today is a huge win for Hoosiers and will help protect our most precious gift from God — our children," Indiana's Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following the decision. "By rejecting the injunction against our commonsense state law, dangerous and irreversible gender-transition procedures for minors will remain banned in Indiana."
The ruling that upheld the Indiana law on puberty blockers and hormones for minors comes in advance of the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing on a challenge to a similar law in Tennessee.
Currently, the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat gender-confused minors is either banned or restricted in at least 26 states.
