Arkansas Barred from Enforcing Minor Gender-Confirming Care Ban

Transgender minors and their parents can seek, and doctors can provide, gender-confirming medical care while litigation over a state ban proceeds, the Eighth Circuit said Thursday in a unanimous decision.

This is one of several high-profile cases currently testing the rights of transgender people—especially those under age 18—to access medical care for conditions such as gender dysphoria.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said that a federal trial court didn’t abuse its discretion by blocking Arkansas from enforcing Act 626, which prohibits health-care professionals from providing gender-confirming care to minors.

The plaintiffs proved that they are likely ...