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An Obama-appointed federal judge who once blocked North Carolina’s voter identification law has reversed course and ruled it constitutional, delivering a major win for Republicans and election security advocates after a seven-year court fight.

Judge Loretta Biggs upheld the law on Thursday, finding the liberal voting rights groups that sued North Carolina’s election board failed to prove the voter ID law was discriminatory. The ruling leaves North Carolina’s voter ID law in place ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 

It also comes as President Donald Trump has been advocating stricter voter ID laws nationwide, alleging what he has said is widespread fraud in elections and to prevent illegal immigrants from potentially casting ballots. 

The North Carolina case centered on a bill that the GOP-led Senate crafted in 2018 to govern how the state would enforce an amendment requiring voters to present a photo ID at the polls. The amendment had been approved by about 55% of North Carolina voters and the legislation dictated how the amendment would be put into practice.

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«Finally. After seven years, we can put to rest any doubt that our state’s Voter I.D. law is constitutional,» said Republican state Sen. Phil Berger, who intervened in the case to defend the law.

Biggs emphasized in her 134-page decision that North Carolina had a «history of extensive official discrimination against African Americans» that was undisputed by parties in the case. The judge said she found evidence that the voter ID law served to disenfranchise Black and Latino voters but that precedents set by higher courts meant the evidence was not enough to invalidate the law.

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President Donald Trump holds a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., March 26, 2026. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

«This Court … concludes that it is compelled by controlling case law to render Judgment in favor of the Defendants,» Biggs said, tossing out the plaintiffs’ allegations that the law violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and the Voting Rights Act.

The judge said the «case law requires this Court to assign less weight to the historical background. It further requires almost impenetrable deference to the presumption of legislative good faith.»

The judge’s findings echo prominent Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who have called voter ID laws «Jim Crow 2.0.» Schumer has said the SAVE America Act, which he is currently blocking from Senate passage, is «a dagger to the heart of our democracy.»

Trump has been aggressively urging Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would impose a nationwide requirement that people provide a physical document proving U.S. citizenship when they register to vote. But tensions have flared on Capitol Hill after the bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate because of Democrats’ opposition to it.

The decision marked a reversal for Biggs after she issued a preliminary injunction in December 2019 that blocked the state from enforcing the voter ID law for the 2020 election cycle. In that opinion, she cited the state’s «sordid history of racial discrimination and voter suppression,» arguing that parts of the law were «impermissibly motivated, at least in part, by discriminatory intent.»

In this Feb. 26, 2014, file photo, an election official checks a voter’s photo identification at an early voting polling site in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Her injunction was later reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The state Supreme Court also upheld the law in a separate state-level case.

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North Carolina Republicans have defended the law has one designed to be accommodating to all voters, saying it offered a wide range of identification options for people showing up to the polls while also boosting election integrity and confidence in elections.

FIRST ON FOX: A parental rights advocacy organization is sounding the alarm over the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) support for transgender medical procedures for minors and encouragement of healthcare providers to withhold the sexual health and history of underage patients from parents.

The American Parents’ Coalition compiled a «lookout» showcasing videos and public statements by AAP asserting that «science» supports «gender-affirming care,» which can range from puberty blockers to cross-sex hormones to surgeries for minors. The launch of the online parental notification system comes weeks before AAP is scheduled to hold its advocacy conference in Virginia from April 12 to April 14.

American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré accused AAP of acting like «a political advocacy group, putting ideology ahead of evidence and children’s wellbeing.» The «lookout» states that during AAP’s 2025 Leadership Conference, 98% of its members voted to make protecting sex change treatments its top resolution. 

«Even as health systems abroad rethink experimental gender interventions, the AAP has doubled down on aggressive and irreversible procedures rather than exercise basic caution,» Marre said. «By prioritizing resolutions that elevate transgender interventions and partnering with activist groups, the AAP is acting to protect a political project.»

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In addition to advocating for sex change treatments for minors, AAP advocates for other political agendas, including banning so-called «assault weapons» and red flag laws, which allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others.

A 2023 blog post on AAP’s website titled «Supporting Our Transgender and Gender-diverse Youth» stresses that doctors must provide «unconditional support» to underage patients, including asking their pronouns, using their preferred name and prioritizing their desires to change their gender over the concerns of parents.

«We have heard from parents, «I just don’t understand» in many of our conversations,» the blog post stated. «When patients and parents disagree about next steps for affirmation, acknowledge parents’ concerns, but always support your patient. When youth are not affirmed, there is a significant increase in depression, anxiety, risky behaviors, and suicide.»

However, at least two research reviews conducted by the United Kingdom and the United States governments indicate that performing transgender medical procedures on minors may not carry significant benefits.

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Little boy, who is strugglng with their gender, identifying as a girl  (Nicoleta Ionescu / Getty Images)

A 2025 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concluded there is a lack of proven benefit that medical and surgical sex-reassignment procedures alleviate a patient’s gender dysphoria. Additionally, a report by the National Health Service England found that a medical pathway may not be the best way to address gender-related stress and advised «extreme caution» for hormonal therapy for minors.

In June 2025, AAP President Susan Kressly criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on providing minors with puberty blockers and hormones, accusing the decision of robbing children of «basic human dignity.»

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«Gender-affirming care is medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria and is backed by decades of peer-reviewed research, clinical experience, and scientific consensus,» Kressly said in a statement at the time.

Do No Harm Chief Medical Officer Kurt Miceli argued that AAP is misrepresenting «the low quality of evidence» supporting «gender-affirming care,» which «can cause lasting harm» to children.

«They are among the staunchest supporters of sex-rejecting procedures for minors, vehemently criticizing HHS’s comprehensive evidence review yet refusing to submit a peer review when invited,» Miceli said. «It is now time for the AAP to re-evaluate their policy statement and follow the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in opposing these harmful, unscientific, and dangerous practices on American kids.»

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A female doctor of Middle Eastern descent sits with a young mother and her son as they discuss the child’s medical needs in Canada on Sept. 28, 2022. (FatCamera / Getty Images)

AAP also created an Adolescent Health Care Toolkit geared toward teaching pediatricians how to engage in sensitive conversations surrounding an underage patient’s sexual activity, their gender identity, and even connecting the patient with emergency contraception based on understanding that this information will not be relayed back to the patient’s parents.

In one of the videos, Kelsey, a 17-year-old «patient,» talked about having sex with her «girlfriend» named Mary, who had a penis. At the beginning of the video, the doctor ensured with Kelsey that their discussion «stayed between the two of us» unless there was a concern for her safety or another person. The doctor discussed plans for birth control and ways to prevent a sexually transmitted infection. 

In another training video, a 15-year-old girl told her doctor that she was a «gender-queer-demi-boy.» The girl said she had not shared this information with her parents, and the doctor assured her he would keep it between the two of them.

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In 2025, AAP received roughly $19 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Trump administration terminated $12 million in grants, with HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. accusing AAP’s recommendations of being «just a pay-to-play scheme to promote commercial ambitions.» AAP sued, and a federal judge restored the grants as the litigation plays out in court.

Fox News Digital reached out to AAP for comment.