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A law that would have banned gender transition procedures for Indiana minors has been preliminarily enjoined by a federal judge, just two days after hearing oral arguments and shortly before the law was scheduled to take effect July 1.
Judge James P. Hanlon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana signed the injunction order against Senate Enrolled Act 480 on June 16. Hanlon had heard arguments in the case on June 14.
SEA 480 would have banned physicians from providing gender transition procedures for minors, and from aiding or abetting another physician to do so.
In his order, Hanlon acknowledged that the state has a “strong interest in enforcing democratically enacted laws. And Defendants have shown that there are important reasons underlying the State’s regulation of gender transition procedures for minors.”
“Still, Plaintiffs have carried their burden of showing some likelihood of success on their claims that S.E.A. 480 would violate their equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and free speech rights under the First Amendment,” the judge wrote. “Under the evidence available at this preliminary stage, there is not a ‘close means–end fit’ between the State’s important reasons for regulating the provision of gender transition procedures to minors and S.E.A. 480’s broad ban of those procedures. So, when the State’s interests are weighed against the likelihood that Plaintiffs will be able to show that S.E.A. 480 would violate their constitutional rights and the risk of irreparable harm, Plaintiffs are entitled to a preliminary injunction.”
The preliminary injunction restrains the defendants — which include the individual members of the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, the executive director of the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, the attorney general, the secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and FSSA — their officers, agents, employees, servants, attorneys and anyone connected with them from enforcing SEA 480 against any physician or practitioner and relating to any patient.
“Today’s victory is a testament to the trans youth of Indiana, their families, and their allies, who never gave up the fight to protect access to gender-affirming care and who will continue to defend the right of all trans people to be their authentic selves, free from discrimination,” Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, which filed the suit, said in a news release. “We won’t rest until this unconstitutional law is struck down for good.”
“We warned lawmakers that if they passed laws attacking trans people that they would see us in court,” Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice with the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, said in a news release. “This victory belongs to the families who have bravely participated in this case, as well as other trans youth in Indiana who spoke up about the harms created by this law. Our work in Indiana and around the country is far from over — including with this law.”
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, who had proposed an amendment to the bill during session that failed, also praised the injunction.
“I’m extremely grateful and overjoyed that a federal judge today ruled in favor of protecting Indiana kids, listening to experts and ensuring access to vital healthcare,” Yoder said in a news release. “Gender-affirming care is healthcare, and it’s so important that parents are not blocked by the government from accessing treatments and support that are both essential to the wellbeing of Hoosier kids and also life-saving. While this is just a preliminary injunction, it’s absolutely a victory for the young people who will have access to the care they need as the court deliberates this issue.”
A spokesperson for the Office of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sent the following statement to the Indiana Lawyer: “The Court’s order imposing a partial preliminary injunction against enforcement of a new state law which prohibits gender transition procedures for minors is a disappointment — but it is not the end of the story. The Court openly acknowledges evidence showing the safety and effectiveness of puberty blockers and hormone therapy are uncertain and unsettled. It also recognizes that the State has shown there are good reasons for regulating gender transition procedures for minors. So, our office will continue to defend the democratically passed laws of the Indiana General Assembly, and we will continue to fight for the children.”
A spokesperson for Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said the Republican governor would not be commenting on Hanlon’s ruling.
The bill’s author, Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, did not respond to requests for comment.
The case is K.C., et al. v. The Individual Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, in their official capacities, et al., 1:23-cv-595.
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