Court sets fall arguments on Alabama trans youth treatment ban

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A federal appeals court will hear arguments in November over Alabama’s efforts to outlaw the use of gender-affirming medications to treat transgender minors.

Alabama is asking a federal appeals court to lift an injunction and let it enforce a law that would make it a felony to give puberty blockers or hormones to transgender minors to help affirm their gender identity. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has tentatively set arguments for the week of Nov. 14 in Montgomery.

U.S. District Judge Liles Burke in May issued a preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the medication ban while a lawsuit goes forward.

Families and advocacy groups challenged the ban as an illegal intrusion into family and medical decisions. Alabama has maintained the ban is needed to protect children.

The state has appealed. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in May referred to the injunction as a "temporary legal roadblock."

Alabama’s appeal cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion, invoking the majority opinion that argues that unenumerated constitutional rights — those not explicitly mentioned in the document — must be "deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and traditions."

A judge blocked a similar law from taking effect in Arkansas. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July heard arguments in that state’s appeal.