Federal appeals court hears arguments on nation’s first ban on transgender care for minors

ST. LOUIS — Arguments before a federal appeals court that is considering whether to reinstate Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for minors focused Thursday on whether it and similar restrictions adopted by two dozen states discriminate on the basis of sex. Ten judges with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard arguments over a judge’s ruling last year that struck down the ban as unconstitutional. The 2021 law would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18. An...