A North Dakota law banning gender-affirming care for children will continue to be enforced pending a court challenge, but any kids whose treatments began before the law took effect in April 2023 can keep getting the care, according to a judge’s ruling released Wednesday. Judge Jackson Lofgren denied a preliminary injunction sought by to overturn the law, as he had in November when the plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order. The plaintiffs said a grandfather clause in the law is so vague it led providers to stop treatments in the state, but the judge made clear those minors can continue any medical care they had before the law took effect.
It isn't clear that the plaintiffs are “substantially” likely to win their case, now scheduled for a November trial, on claims that the law violates rights to parent or to personal autonomy and self-determination, the judge said. He also sided against claims that the grandfather clause is unconstitutionally vague, and that the plaintiffs have shown irreparable harm. With the current law in effect for more than a year now, Lofgren said “the public interest in maintaining the status quo weighs against granting a preliminary injunction.
” The law took immediate effect when Republican Gov. Doug Burgum in April 2023 after overwhelming approval by the GOP-controlled legislature. It makes it a misdemeanor for a health care provider to prescribe or give hormone treatments or puberty blockers to a transgender child, and a felony to .
