A lawsuit seeking to strike down North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors will go to trial Monday, more than a year after families of transgender children and a doctor filed the suit that argued the law violates the state’s constitution.

North Dakota is one of more than two dozen states that have banned gender-affirming care. Like North Dakota, many of those states have faced court challenges to the laws.

“Our argument is that all North Dakotans have a right to access healthcare that helps improve their lives and well-being, and our clients are no different,” said lead counsel Brittany Stewart, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice, a nonprofit advocating gender equity.

Court rulings have significantly reduced the scope of the North Dakota case, filed in late 2023. Earlier this month, a state district judge dismissed from the case some of the claims as well as the children and families who were plaintiffs, leaving only a pediatric endocrinologist as a plaintiff.

The trial in Bismarck, the state capital, is expected to last eight days. It’s unclear when the judge will rule.

Then-Gov. Doug Burgum signed the bill into law in April 2023 after it overwhelmingly passed the Republican-led Legislature. It makes it a misdemeanor for a healthcare provider to prescribe or give........

© Fast Company