Trump judge allows Oklahoma’s gender-affirming care ban to go into effect

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Oklahoma district court judge has allowed S.B. 613, a state ban on gender-affirming care for minors, to go into effect, making it a felony for medical providers to give such care. In his ruling, Judge John Frederick Heil III — appointed by former President Donald Trump — wrote that the law “is not an outright ban on gender-affirming care” because it allows trans adults to access such care.

S.B. 613 bans all forms of this lifesaving health care – including reversible puberty blockers – for anyone under the age of 18. It forces trans minors currently receiving such care to de-transition over a six-month period. The law also makes it a felony for doctors to provide this care to trans youth and allows prosecution of health care professionals until their patients turn 45 and also potential civil penalties, including the loss of their medical licenses.

A gender-affirming care doctor and five families with transgender teens filed a lawsuit challenging the law, saying that it discriminates on the basis of sex and gender and violates constitutional rights to due process. The doctor and families sought a preliminary injunction to keep the law from going into effect while the courts considered their lawsuit.

In his decision, Judge Heil said that that law…

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