2021]
FORDHAM UNDERGRADUATE LAW REVIEW
3
(ACLU) filed a lawsuit in May of 2021.6 The ACLU makes some strong arguments against the Act in reference to the United States Constitution, which raises the question of whether a discriminatory bill such as this one should have been passed, and whether the Act is enforceable under the terms of other statutes. First, this Note will summarize the core argument and key elements of the SAFE Act. This Note will review the ACLU’s lawsuit against the SAFE Act based on the U.S. Constitution. This Note will then examine the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination clause and its implications for the SAFE Act. This Note will ultimately argue that Arkansas’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth is unlawful, violating the U.S. Constitution and Affordable Care Act by targeting individuals based on their sex, and should therefore be repealed. II. ACT 626 OVERVIEW The core of Act 626 stems from the argument that gender transition procedures, including hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and sex reassignment surgery, are experimental processes with potential long-term effects on children that have not yet been established.7 However, it ignores the life threatening effects of gender dysphoria that transgender individuals experience, especially for transgender youth, and the increased risk of suicide for those afflicted with untreated dysphoria.8 Instead, the Act highlights “the lack of studies” showing whether the benefits of extreme interventions outweigh its risks.9 It essentially claims that the risks of gender transition procedures, which include anything from mental distress, irreversible infertility, and even cerebrovascular disease, far outweigh any potential benefit.10 With this motivation, Act 626 calls for the criminalization of genderaffirming healthcare for transgender youth through a variety of means. First of all, the Act bans the use of public funds and insurance from covering gender transition procedures, stating that a health benefit plan under an ACLU Sues Arkansas Over Ban On Health Care For Transgender Youth, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION (May 25, 2021), https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-suesarkansas-over-ban-health-care-transgender-youth. 7 A.R. Legis. Assemb. Act 262. Reg. Sess. 2021-2022 § 2(6)(b) (2021). 8 Trotta, supra note 3. 9 A.R. Legis. Assemb. Act 262. Reg. Sess. 2021-2022 § 2(14) (2021). 10 Id. § 2(8). 6
