Alabama can begin immediately enforcing a ban outlawing the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat transgender people under 19 that's according to a federal appeals court ruling Thursday.
The ruling granted the state’s request to stay a preliminary injunction that had blocked enforcement of the 2022 law.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled the injunction should be vacated, but the decision had been effectively on hold for more than 18 months while families with transgender children asked the full appellate court to reconsider the decision.
The Thursday order will allow the ban to take effect while the full court decides whether it will revisit the issue.
The state Attorney General Steve Marshall called the order a "significant victory for our country, for children and for common sense.”
Jennifer L. Levi, an attorney with G-L-B-T-Q Advocates & Defenders, said. “It’s not the end of this effort to challenge that law, but it’s a really significant and disappointing setback.”
The lawsuit challenging the Alabama ban is scheduled to go to trial in August. The issue could ultimately be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
