On Wednesday, a coalition of state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The coalition, lead by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, urged the court to affirm a district court judgement that blocked enforcement of Arkansas Act 626, the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation” Act or SAFE Act.
According to a press release from Bonta, The SAFE Act seeks to prevent medical practitioners from proscribing, referring, or performing certain procedures and medication for minor patients. The affected treatments are used to provide gender affirming treatment to patients suffering from gender dysphoria.
The brief explained that patients suffering from gender dysphoria frequently suffer for major depression, suicidal ideation, and other major psychological condition with a higher incidence of decreased social functioning, alcoholism, drug use, and high risk secual behaviors. The gender affirming procedures have received the medical consensus from the medical communities that these procedures have a positive impact on the patients with this condition, the amici said.
The act was originally passed on April 6, 2021 and was subject to a preliminary injunction on July 21, 2021. The amicus brief has been subscribed to by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
Other parties, including the federal government, have submitted amicus briefs for review.
