Dec. 27 (UPI) — A federal judge Tuesday denied a Department of Justice request to pause a lawsuit against Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The decision allows the lawsuit to proceed.
Judge Liles Burke wrote that the stay requested by DOJ, “may indeed be the most efficient way to proceed in this case, but not unless a higher court signals that it will decide the governing standard of review.”
The DOJ, citing a Tennessee appeal to the Supreme Court to block enforcement of its gender-affirming care ban and an Alabama appeal on the issue in that state, wanted the temporary stay due to the rapidly evolving legal landscape on the issue.
In denying the DOJ request for a stay for now, Burke wrote that a stay “may well be appropriate” if either of those courts agree to take the cases.
Alabama families with transgender children are appealing a lower court ruling to the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a decision allowing enforcement of Alabama’s law. It’s set for trial in April.
In May, the Republican-controlled Texas legislature passed a bill banning the care for minors.
In June, a federal judge struck down a Florida statute that prohibited Medicaid coverage for gender-dysphoria treatment.
At the end of June, judges blocked Kentucky and Tennessee bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
But in late September, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request from families and medical providers to block the Tennessee gender-affirming care ban.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, representing 67,000 pediatricians, reaffirmed its support for gender-related treatments for minors in August.
