❓WHAT HAPPENED: A North Dakota judge upheld a law banning transgender “treatments” for minors, ruling it does not violate the state constitution.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: District Judge Jackson Lofgren, Republican state Rep. Bill Tveit, and North Dakota children and their parents.
📍WHEN & WHERE: North Dakota, ruling issued Wednesday, law effective since April 2023.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The evidence presented at trial establishes there is a legitimate concern regarding the capacity of minors to understand and appreciate the long-term consequences of the practices prohibited by the Health Care Law.” – Judge Jackson Lofgren
🎯IMPACT: The ruling allows the law to stand while permitting minors already receiving transgender medical interventions before its enactment to continue them.
A state district court judge in North Dakota has ruled that the state ban on transgender procedures for minors does not violate the North Dakota state constitution. Judge Jackson Lofgren stated that he found no evidence of an “invidious discriminatory purpose” by the legislature and that the law discriminates based on age and medical purpose rather than sex, the former being permissible under state law.
The law, which took effect in April 2023, makes performing transgender surgeries on minors a felony and prescribing or administering hormones or puberty blockers to minors to facilitate so-called gender transitions a misdemeanor. Judge Lofgren emphasized the ongoing debates and concerns surrounding these medical practices, writing, “The evidence presented at trial establishes there is a legitimate concern regarding the capacity of minors to understand and appreciate the long-term consequences of the practices prohibited by the Health Care Law.”
Republican state Representative Bill Tveit, who introduced the legislation, expressed satisfaction with the ruling. “It’s a law that needs to be there. We need to protect our youth, and that’s what the whole goal of this thing was from the beginning,” Tveit said.
The lawsuit was brought by several families and a pediatric endocrinologist. However, Judge Lofgren dismissed some of their claims, leaving only the physician as a plaintiff. He also granted a request allowing minors already receiving transgender “treatments” prior to the law’s enactment to continue them.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states have the authority to ban transgender treatments for minors. North Dakota is among at least 27 states that have enacted laws restricting or banning such treatments.
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