Georgia ban on hormone therapy for transgender minors can resume, judge rules

The Georgia ban on hormone therapy for minors can resume, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, after a federal appeals court upheld a similar Alabama law last month.

The state’s ban was halted by a court injunction last month, a day before the 11th Circuit of Appeals ruled that Alabama’s similar ban could go forward. 

The Georgia ban allows young people currently on hormone therapy to continue, but prevents new patients from receiving the care. It also bans gender-affirming surgeries for minors. 

A group of parents with transgender children sued the state in June, claiming the ban violates their parental rights. 

Judge Sarah Geraghty ruled last month that the plaintiffs would suffer “irreparable harm” if the law was not halted.

“Without an injunction, the middle-school age plaintiffs will be unable to obtain in Georgia a course of treatment that has been recommended by their health care providers in light of their individual diagnoses and mental health needs,” Geraghty’s August ruling said.

On Tuesday, she chose to pause that injunction due to the appeals court’s ruling on the Alabama law, pending a final decision in that case. The state asked that she completely vacate the injunction, which she declined to do.

Hormone therapy is a form of gender-affirming care which is endorsed by multiple major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Endocrine Society.

The law initially went into effect on July 1.