Arkansas enacted Act 979 creating a special malpractice cause of action against providers of gender-affirming care to minors

On April 22, 2025, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed HB1916 into law as Act 979, amending the state's 2023 Protecting Minors From Medical Malpractice Act to add gender-affirming interventions as a right of action for medical malpractice. The statute creates a dedicated civil cause of action allowing a minor, or a representative acting on the minor's behalf, to sue a health care professional for injuries the minor claims resulted from puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or related gender-transition procedures, subject to the informed-consent and documentation conditions written into the underlying 2023 act.

The measure was sponsored by Rep. Mary Bentley and Sen. Alan Clark and cleared the Arkansas General Assembly on votes of 73-16 in the House and 29-6 in the Senate before the governor signed it. Rather than regulating medical malpractice on neutral terms applicable to all care, Act 979 singles out one category of treatment associated with transgender minors for a bespoke right of action, extending the liability exposure of the clinicians who provide it and building on Arkansas's earlier restrictions on gender-affirming care for youth.