Eknes-Tucker v. Governor of the State of Alabama (11th Cir. 2023)

In Eknes-Tucker v. Governor of the State of Alabama, 80 F.4th 1205 (11th Cir. 2023), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed a constitutional challenge to Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, which prohibits medical professionals from providing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormone therapy to minors for gender affirmation. The plaintiffs; transgender adolescents, their parents, and healthcare providers, argued that the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantees of due process and equal protection. The district court had issued a preliminary injunction, concluding that the statute likely infringed on parental and individual rights. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit vacated the injunction, holding that the lower court applied the wrong level of scrutiny. The appellate court reasoned that the Act regulates medical procedures rather than targeting a protected class and is therefore subject only to rational basis review. Finding the law rationally related to legitimate state interests, the Court allowed Alabama’s restrictions to take effect while litigation continued. The ruling positioned the Eleventh Circuit in alignment with other appellate courts that have upheld comparable state laws limiting gender-affirming medical care for minors.

Topics

• Gender discrimination
• LGBTIQ

Geographical location

• North America
• United States
• Alabama

Keywords

• constitutional rights
• gender affirming care
• judicial review

Year

• 2023

External URL

• Eknes-Tucker v. Governor of the State of Alabama (11th Cir. 2023)

Court

• United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Type

• Domestic Case Law

Jurisdiction

• United States