Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed measures into law that outlaw so-called puberty-blocking drugs or hormones for children and prohibit some teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation matters in school.
Alabama is now the only state in the nation to have a ban on gender-altering treatments for minors, although some other states have sought to enact similar measures.
In April 2021, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a similar bill to the Alabama law, calling the measure “a product of the cultural war in America” and “vast” and “extreme” government overreach. Arkansas’s GOP-dominated Legislature overrode his veto, although a federal judge granted a temporary block on the law’s enforcement while a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) proceeds.
Both bills that were signed by Ivey on April 8 go into effect in 30 days, although legal challenges are expected.
“This dangerous bill undermines Alabama parents’ ability to make decisions about what’s best for their kids,” said Scott McCoy, a legal director of the LGBTQ rights division at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “It is indefensible for the state to reach in and interfere so completely with family medical decision-making and it will not hold up to constitutional scrutiny.”
The Biden administration also weighed in on the debate, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki saying at a press briefing that Alabama’s new laws are an “extreme government overreach” and “will only serve to harm kids.”
In response, Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl said the Biden administration has no authority of pushing a “radical leftist agenda” onto his state.
“Alabamians are tired of the Biden Administration’s radical leftist agenda and overreach into our state affairs,” Wahl said. “Our message to the Biden Administration is to respect the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution, and keep your nose out of our business.”