By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-14 19:48:14 | Updated at 2024-11-21 12:31:10
6 days ago
CV NEWS FEED // A federal appeals court this week ruled in favor of Indiana in a lawsuit that challenged the state’s law protecting children from “transgender” chemical and surgical interventions.
“Indiana rightly enacted a law that protects the health and welfare of all children — supporting their natural biological development and ensuring that children experiencing gender dysphoria have a chance for comprehensive healing and compassionate mental health support,” said Jonathan Scruggs, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), in a statement after the ruling.
The “transgender” interventions “have devastated countless lives,” Scruggs said, “which is why countries that were previously leaders in so-called ‘gender affirming’ care are reversing course and curtailing these experimental efforts to alter children’s bodies.”
ADF filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit last year backing the defendants in the lawsuit K.C. v. Individual Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana.
In July 2023, the state of Indiana appealed the lower court’s preliminary injunction ruling, and the 7th Circuit heard oral arguments for the case earlier this year, according to the November 13 ruling.
According to the ruling, in April 2023, Indiana enacted Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 480, which prohibits physicians from performing “transgender” surgeries on children, and from administering puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
After Indiana enacted SEA 480, a group of parents who claim their children are “transgender,” their children, and a physician and her office, sued the state officials who enforce SEA 480. The plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction challenging the law. In June, the district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, allowing for “non-surgical gender transition procedures,” and “speech constituting aiding and abetting gender transition procedures,” according to the ruling.
On November 13, the 7th Circuit reversed and vacated the district court’s previous order that granted the preliminary injunction.
The November 13 ruling highlights that the state’s protective law “is supported by a rational basis.”
“[P]rotecting minor children from being subjected to a novel and uncertain medical treatment is a legitimate end,” the ruling states.
An injunction against the law is also harmful on a societal level, the ruling highlighted, adding: “Indiana’s voters have decided, through their representatives, legislative and executive, that medical interventions are too risky and novel to be safe treatments for children with gender dysphoria.”
The Catholic Church has taught that “transgender” interventions are not morally permissible, recognizing that God makes human beings male and female.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall plenary assembly has been taking place in Baltimore, Maryland, this week. As CatholicVote previously reported, during a presentation at the assembly, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, “identified gender ideology and sex changes as fundamental attacks on marriage and the complementarity of the sexes established by God at the beginning of creation.”
