LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed legislation to make it easier to sue providers of gender-affirming treatment for children, a move that could effectively roll back a ban on the treatment.
Sanders on Monday signed the new law, which won’t go into effect until this summer. It would allow anyone who received gender-affirming treatment as a minor to file a malpractice lawsuit against a doctor up to 15 years after they turned 18. Under current Arkansas law, medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years of the injury.
Legal experts say the changes could close access to gender-affirming care for children by making it nearly impossible for providers to obtain malpractice insurance.
“Arkansas unconscionably passed the first law in the country to try to ban gender-affirming treatment for trans youth and after hearing overwhelming evidence, the courts have blocked the ban,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, in statement. “This bill is an attempt to achieve indirectly what the state Constitution prohibits us from doing directly.”
The new legislation includes a growing number of bills targeting transgender people, who have faced increasingly hostile rhetoric in the state house. At least 175 bills targeting trans people have been introduced in state houses so far this year, the most in a single year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
The bill was signed as federal judges consider whether to strike down a 2021 Arkansas law that would have banned doctors from providing gender-affirming or puberty-blocking hormone therapy to anyone under 18 — or referring them to another doctor who can provide the treatment. No gender-affirming surgery is performed on minors in the country.
Republican Sen. Gary Stubblefield, who sponsored the malpractice law, said he did not know if the measure would face a similar court challenge.
“Anything can create a court challenge in the world we live in today,” Stubblefield said. “I know we’re doing what we think is best for our kids.”
U.S. District Judge Jay Moody temporarily blocked the state’s ban on gender-affirming treatment for minors through 2021. Arkansas is the first state to enact such a ban, and several states have approved similar bans. A ban in Alabama was also blocked by a federal judge.
Opponents of the treatment argue that minors are too young to make decisions about their future. But every major medical group, including the American Medical Association, supports gender-affirming treatment for youth and opposes the ban.
The malpractice law includes a “safe harbor” provision that would give doctors a defense against lawsuits over providing gender-affirming treatment to children, but only if they follow restrictions that experts say are inconsistent with the standard of care for such treatment.
The new law won’t take effect until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns for the year, which isn’t expected to happen until next month at the earliest.
The bill is among several targeted transgender youth proposed in Arkansas this year.
Others include legislation that would criminalize transgender adults using bathrooms that match their gender identity. The bill is even more of a North Carolina bathroom bill that was repealed after a widespread boycott.
Dickson called on Sanders to listen to trans youth and those who care about them before signing another bill that affects the LGBTQ community.