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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 26 august 2022
Court: Arkansas can’t ban treatment of transgender kids

By ANDREW DeMILLO Hutchinson vetoed Arkan-
Associated Press sas’ ban last year, and
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — GOP lawmakers overrode
A federal appeals court him. Pediatricians, social
on Thursday said Arkansas workers and the parents
can’t enforce its ban on of transgender youth said
transgender children re- the measure would harm
ceiving gender-affirming a community already at
medical care. risk for depression and sui-
A three-judge panel of the cide. Hutchinson has said
8th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- he would signed such leg-
peals affirmed a judge’s islation if it only focused on
ruling temporarily block- gender-confirming surgery.
ing the state from enforc- On Thursday, he called
ing the 2021 law. A trial Arkansas’ ban the “most
is scheduled for October extreme law in the coun-
before the same judge on try” and urged lawmakers
whether to permanently to scale it back next year
block the law. “with a more narrow focus
Arkansas was the first state to protect our children.”
to enact such a ban, which “No other state has passed
prohibits doctors from pro- such a law that interferes
viding gender-confirming with a parent making
hormone treatment, pu- health care decisions for
berty blockers or surgery minor children based upon
to anyone under 18 years a doctor’s recommenda-
old, or from referring them Dylan Brandt speaks at a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Little Rock, Ark., on tions when the recommen-
Wednesday, July 21, 2021.
to other providers for the Associated Press dations are based upon
treatment. There are no generally accepted medi-
doctors who perform gen- treatments. Arkansas argued that the Missouri, Nebraska and cal guidance,” Hutchinson,
der-affirming surgery on mi- “The Eighth Circuit was restriction is within the the Dakotas. The ruling on who leaves office in Janu-
nors in the state. abundantly clear that the state’s authority to regulate Arkansas’ law comes af- ary, said in a statement.
“Because the minor’s sex at state’s ban on care does medical practices. ter the 4th Circuit Court of Multiple medical groups,
birth determines whether or not advance any impor- Republican Attorney Gen- Appeals that covers Mary- including the American
not the minor can receive tant governmental interest eral Leslie Rutledge will ask land, North Carolina, South Medical Association, op-
certain types of medical and the state’s defense of the full 8th Circuit Court of Carolina, Virginia and West pose the ban and have
care under the law, Act the law is lacking in legal Appeals to review the rul- Virginia ruled last week that said the care is safe if prop-
626 discriminates on the or evidentiary support,” ing, said spokeswoman gender dysphoria is cov- erly administered. The Jus-
basis of sex,” the court’s rul- Chase Strangio, deputy di- Amanda Priest, adding ered by the Americans with tice Department has also
ing Thursday said. rector for Transgender Jus- that Rutledge was “ex- Disabilities Act. Experts and opposed the ban as un-
The American Civil Liberties tice at the ACLU’s LGBTQ & tremely disappointed in to- advocates have said that constitutional.
Union challenged the law HIV Project, said in a state- day’s dangerously wrong decision could help block An attorney for the ACLU
on behalf of four transgen- ment. “The state has no decision by the three-judge conservative political ef- told the appeals panel in
der youth and their families, business categorically sin- panel.” forts to restrict access to June that reinstating the
as well as two doctors who gling out this care for pro- The 8th Circuit covers Ar- gender-affirming care. restriction would create un-
provide gender-confirming hibition.” kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Republican Gov. Asa certainty for families.q

Long-term victims of car crashes win

key Michigan decision

providers. In a 2-1 opinion, Judge Sima Patel. quences for roughly 18,000
the court said lawmakers In an effort to lower Michi- people needing long-term
“did not clearly demon- gan’s insurance rates, care after crashes that
strate” that insurance pay- which were among the took place before June 11,
ment cuts would be ap- highest in the U.S., the 2019, and the providers of
plied retroactively. Republican-controlled those services.
And even if those changes Legislature and Demo- Hockey star Vladimir Kon-
were intended to be ret- cratic Gov. Gretchen Whit- stantinov suffered severe
roactive, that step violates mer agreed to sweeping brain damage when a
contract protections in changes in 2019. drunken limousine driver
Health aide Angela Martin helps former Detroit Red Wings star
Vladimir Konstantinov into his wheelchair on Tuesday, May 17, the Michigan Constitution, For decades, people in- crashed the car in 1997.
2022, in West Bloomfield, Mich. Judge Douglas Shapiro jured in crashes were en- Konstantinov, a passenger,
Associated Press wrote. “Giving a windfall titled to payment for “all was celebrating a champi-
to insurance companies reasonable charges” relat- onship by the NHL’s Detroit
By ED WHITE strophically injured before who received premiums for ed to care and rehabilita- Red Wings.
Associated Press the summer of 2019, the unlimited benefits is not a tion. But the new law sets a By last spring, Arcadia
DETROIT (AP) — Major state appeals court said legitimate public purpose, fee schedule and a cap on Home Care & Staffing said
changes in Michigan car Thursday, a victory for long- nor a reasonable means to reimbursements not cov- it had lost $200,000 for Kon-
insurance law do not apply term victims of motor vehi- reform the system,” Shapiro ered by Medicare. stantinov’s care due to the
to people who were cata- cle crashes and their care said in a decision joined by It’s had drastic conse- 2019 law.q