U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon upheld Indiana’s law prohibiting transgender surgeries on children. Indiana’s Attorney General declared, “We have won this critical fight against radicals who would otherwise impose this horrific practice on our kids for ideological and financial reasons. My office will keep standing between our children and those who would sacrifice their health, innocence, and well-being on the altar of woke gender ideology.”
Court Upholds Indiana’s Ban On ‘Horrific’ ‘Trans’ Surgeries For Kids– thefederalist.com
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EXCERPT:
A federal court sided with Indiana on Friday in upholding a state law prohibiting “horrific” “trans” surgeries from being conducted on children.
“We have won this critical fight against radicals who would otherwise impose this horrific practice on our kids for ideological and financial reasons,” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a statement. “My office will keep standing between our children and those who would sacrifice their health, innocence, and well-being on the altar of woke gender ideology.”
In a short order, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon, a Trump appointee, entered final judgment in favor of the Hoosier State in a lawsuit brought by the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In doing so, he dismissed the leftist group’s claims “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot refile the same claims again in court.
According to local media, the law in question was signed by former Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2023. Its provisions bar minors from accessing harmful “hormone replacement therapies, puberty blockers, and surgeries in the state.”
Following its enactment, the ACLU sued in federal court challenging the law. After a lower court initially agreed to block the statute, an appeal from Rokita’s office to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals resulted in that blockade being lifted.
As described by the Indiana AG’s office, the 7th Circuit again sided with Rokita in November 2024, “revers[ing] the lower court, and [holding] that the law does not violate the Constitution.” With no path forward, the ACLU reportedly “abandoned the rest of the case,” culminating in Friday’s judgment.