U.S. District Judge David Hale reversed course on his decision to block the gender care portion of SB 150 – a decision issued only last month. The ruling came in response to a request by Attorney General Daniel Cameron and, perhaps more importantly, just a week after the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a similar injunction in effect in Tennessee.
Corey Shapiro, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said his organization strongly disagrees with the opinion but remains optimistic that, with a full briefing, the ACLU will receive a “positive result.”
Shannon Minter with the National Center for Lesbian Rights noted in a statement that six federal judges have ruled on challenges to medical bans, including Kentucky’s, and found that they “have no basis in medical science” and cause serious harm.
But backers of SB 150 praised the new decision, calling it a “big win” for Kentucky’s children. This is David Walls with the Family Foundation who has maintained that Kentucky’s law will hold up in court.
"SB 150’s commonsense protections going into effect is something that all Kentuckians who wish to prioritize the health, safety, and welfare of children should celebrate. These experimental interventions have very real, immediate, and irreversible harms," Walls wrote Friday.
At least 20 states have passed laws limited or barring gender-transition services for minors and most have attracted legal challenges.
