By: Amy Dalrymple
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – A judge has upheld a North Dakota law that bans gender-affirming care for minors.
South Central District Court Judge Jackson Lofgren wrote in a Thursday order that the 2023 law that makes it a crime to prescribe puberty blockers and other treatments to adolescents does not violate the state constitution.
Lofgren presided over a seven-day court trial in February that included testimony from doctors and transgender teens and their parents.
In his 85-page order, Lofgren writes that there is “legitimate ongoing debate regarding the safety and effectiveness” of prescribing gender-affirming treatments like puberty blockers or hormone therapy to a minor. He adds that the evidence at trial shows a valid concern about whether adolescents have the capacity to understand the long-term risks of the medications.
“Where there is uncertainty, deference is given to the Legislature to decide where the line should be drawn,” Lofgren wrote.
The lawsuit was brought by North Dakota pediatric endocrinologist Luis Casas, who alleged that the ban is an unconstitutional infringement of personal autonomy and equal protection rights.
Witnesses for the plaintiffs said there is consensus among leading medical associations that hormone therapy is safe and effective to treat gender dysphoria.
Initially the plaintiffs also included three families who also challenged the state law. Lofgren limited the scope of the lawsuit, however, finding that the families could not sue because their children received gender-affirming before the ban took effect and fell under an exemption in the law.
In Lofgren’s ruling this week, he also affirms the health care exemption for families receiving the treatments in North Dakota prior to April 2023, when the law was signed.
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