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A federal judge has postponed a trial over Alabama’s ban on the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth until the U.S. Supreme Court decides a similar case from Tennessee.
U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke wrote in a ruling Tuesday that it would be “unwise for the Court to expend the considerable legal resources necessary to decide this case until it has further guidance from the Supreme Court on the relevant standard of review.” The trial, which had been scheduled for October, will be postponed until the Supreme Court issues its decision.
The ban in Alabama that came into effect last year remains in place.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced last month that it would hear arguments on the constitutionality of state bans on treatments for transgender youth. The case before the Supreme Court involves a challenge to Tennessee state law that also restricts the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to treat transgender youth. Hearings will take place in the fall.
Twenty-five states have passed laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. Some of these laws have been blocked by federal courts, while others have been allowed to take effect.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act in 2022, making it a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison for doctors to treat transgender people under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to affirm their gender identity.
Four families with transgender children aged 12 to 17 sued the Alabama law, arguing that it was unconstitutional, violated the principle of equal treatment and the right to free speech, and interfered with the family’s medical decisions. The US Department of Justice joined their lawsuit and called for the law to be repealed.
Burke had issued a temporary restraining order preventing the law from taking effect in Alabama, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction last year, allowing Alabama to begin enforcing the ban.
The Justice Department and families challenging the Alabama ban had asked for a stay. The Alabama Attorney General’s office denied the request and told Burke to keep the case moving forward.
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