An effort by Indiana Republicans to target transgender minors has suffered a setback at the hands of a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump.
On Friday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued a partial preliminary injunction against a new law that will prohibit the ability of medical professionals to provide gender-affirming care for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Prior to this intervention, the law was set to take effect on July 1.
Indiana is only one among dozens of states where Republican lawmakers are attempting to curtail the rights and services available to transgender individuals as part of a broader political movement targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
Despite the decision from Hanlon, only parts of the law are being halted for the time being. The injunction now bars the state from banning the use of puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapies as treatment options for minors with gender dysphoria.
Hanlon did, however, uphold the law's ban on gender-affirming surgery for minors, an alleged phenomenon that, despite conservative backlash, is not advised by leading medical organizations except in rare cases for older teenagers who meet specific criteria. Testimony before the Indiana Statehouse and other court filings also showed that such surgeries were not being done on minors in the state to begin with, the Chronicle noted.
The move by Hanlon comes as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana is suing the Republican-controlled state in a bid to block the law from being enacted. The suit currently involves four transgender minors who would be affected by the law.
"Today's victory is a testament to the trans youth of Indiana, their families, and their allies, who never gave up the fight to protect access to gender-affirming care and who will continue to defend the right of all trans people to be their authentic selves, free from discrimination," Ken Falk, legal director for the Indiana ACLU, said in a statement. "We won't rest until this unconstitutional law is struck down for good."
The office of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, told the Chronicle in a statement that the injunction was "a disappointment but not the end of the story."
Newsweek reached out to the Indiana ACLU via email for comment. The office of Governor Eric Holcomb declined to comment on the injunction when reached by Newsweek.
Over the course of the case, Hanlon was presented with numerous conflicting arguments about the scientific and medical validity of gender-affirming care from the plaintiffs and defendants. According to the Chronicle, the judge said that the ACLU has "some likelihood of success" in its arguments, due to the fact that the law would allow some of the treatments to continue in cases not involving gender dysphoria. While acknowledging some of the evidence presented by the state in favor of the ban, he nevertheless added that they had not given an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for it overall.
"There's evidence that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy reduces distress for some minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria," Hanlon said. "The risk or irreparable harm, therefore, supports a preliminary injunction."
Hanlon was nominated by Trump in April 2018. The judge was confirmed via voice vote in the Senate, which was then controlled by Republicans, in October of that same year.
Updated, 6/17/2023, 5:30 p.m. ET: This article was updated to reflect a response from the office of Eric Holcomb.
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