Attorney General celebrates end of ACLU’s years-long challenge to Indiana’s law protecting children from gender-transition procedures

Attorney General Todd Rokita today announced that a federal judge has entered final judgment for the State, ending the ACLU’s more than three-year challenge to Indiana’s commonsense law banning gender-transition procedures for minors.

“We have won this critical fight against radicals who would otherwise impose this horrific practice on our kids for ideological and financial reasons,” Attorney General Rokita said. “My office will keep standing between our children and those who would sacrifice their health, innocence, and well-being on the altar of woke gender ideology.”

In 2023, the General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 480. The law prohibits physicians and other practitioners from providing gender-transition procedures to anyone under 18, including surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers.

The ACLU sued, and a lower court temporarily blocked the law. Attorney General Rokita’s office appealed. In February 2024, the Seventh Circuit sided with the attorney general, lifted that block, and allowed the law to take effect. In November 2024, the Seventh Circuit again sided with the attorney general, reversed the lower court, and held that the law does not violate the Constitution.

That 2024 ruling already defeated the ACLU’s main challenge. After seeing no path forward, the ACLU abandoned the rest of the case. The district court today entered final judgment for the State and dismissed the remaining claims with prejudice.

Indiana’s commonsense law has already been in effect and protecting Hoosier children from these dangerous and irreversible procedures. Today’s judgment does not change enforcement on the ground. It does, however, close the challenge for good.

Attorney General Rokita thanked Solicitor General James Barta and his outstanding team for their exceptional work and unwavering commitment throughout this hard-fought victory.

You can find the final judgment here.