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 health care 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.