Eagle Forum Applauds Appeals Court Decision to Allow Alabama to Protect Vulnerable Children

January 12, 2024 | Washington, D.C.

Children should be helped, not harmed, by irreversible treatments.

Eagle Forum, together with Alabama Eagle Forum, applauds the decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the injunction against the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection (VCAP) Act and allow the law to go into effect pending a decision on the merits expected later this year.

“We are grateful for the decision by the 11th Circuit to allow Alabama to enforce protections for vulnerable children suffering from gender dysphoria. The so-called ‘treatments’ with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones permanently alter the healthy bodies of children and impair their futures. The action by the Court yesterday will finally allow the VCAP law to go into effect after more than 18 months of delay,” said Eagle Forum President Kris Ullman.

Eunie Smith, President of Eagle Forum of Alabama stated, “This law protects vulnerable children who are suffering from gender dysphoria from irreversible medical procedures that will alter their bodies forever. Many minors are making life-altering decisions that may render them sterile for life, cause serious bone loss, and decrease cognitive development from hormone therapy. Children must be helped; not harmed. The Alabama legislature and Governor did just that in 2022 with the enactment of VCAP. We are happy that the Court is allowing these protections to finally go into effect.”

Eagle Forum of Alabama advocated publicly and passionately for the passage of VCAP — constitutionally protected activities that were threatened by an unprecedented subpoena by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in August 2022. On October 24 of that year, federal judge Liles Burke, of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, granted Eagle Forum of Alabama’s motion to quash the DOJ’s subpoena, declaring it “overly broad and unduly burdensome.” The original subpoena demanded all information related to the non-profit’s legislative activities promoting VCAP since 2017.