Judge dismisses challenge to Alabama law protecting minors from trans treatment

U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke formally dismissed a case on Thursday that sought to overrule a state law protecting minors from receiving transgender procedures and surgeries. The dismissal came after the plaintiffs who sued to overturn the law filed a joint motion for dismissal last Thursday.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office described the dismissal last week as a landmark legal win for the state. Alabama lawmakers enacted the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act in 2022, which barred minors from receiving puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries to hide their gender characteristics. A number of civil rights groups, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, and the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center, represented plaintiffs suing to overturn the law. The case ended with Burke granting the motion to dismiss on Thursday.

Why would the plaintiffs withdraw their own case? The evidence uncovered during discovery was devastating to the plaintiff’s case, prompting them to abandon the challenge, according to Marshall. The statement alleged that discovery revealed how medical groups misled parents, promoted unproven treatments as proven science, and ignored growing international concern over the use of sex-change procedures in minors. Alabama investigators discovered internal communications showing care standards being crafted with input from lawyers and activists on how to win lawsuits and influence policy decisions, Marshall’s office added.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights vowed to continue fighting for child access to transgender intervention, the group told WORLD in a Thursday statement. Shutting down medical options for transgender youth in Alabama will force families into making gut-wrenching decisions to adapt to this challenging environment, the group added. 

WORLD reached out to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for comment and did not receive an immediate response as of Thursday evening.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on a similar case fighting laws protecting minors in Indiana.