A federal judge has struck down an Arkansas law that prohibited transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care.

In his 80-page ruling handed down Tuesday following an 8-day trial in December, U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. wrote that the law was unconstitutional.

According to NPR, witnesses offered by the state offered no evidence to support their claims that such treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormones, cause harm to transgender minors.

"Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that, by prohibiting it, the State undermined the interests it claims to be advancing," Moody wrote. "The testimony of well-credentialed experts, doctors who provide gender-affirming medical care in Arkansas, and families that rely on that care directly refutes any claim by the State that the Act advances an interest in protecting children."

Lawmakers approved Act 626 in 2021, making Arkansas the first state in the nation to do so. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked Moody to block the law before it was set to take effect in 2021, which he did.

In a tweet, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, said that the state would appeal Moody's ruling.