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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) ordered the state on Thursday to defy new changes to Title IX that add protections for transgender students. Sanders, the onetime press secretary to former President Trump, is the latest in a growing coalition of Republican governors to explicitly reject the Biden administration’s update to the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools and education programs that receive federal funding. (Migdon, 5/2)

A lawyer for a group of transgender women on Thursday urged a U.S. appeals court to revive claims that Tennessee's decades-old policy of not allowing people born in the state to amend their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity violates the U.S. Constitution. A three-judge 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Nashville heard arguments in the four plaintiffs' appeal of a judge's ruling that said birth certificates are merely historical records that do not implicate the women's constitutional rights. (Wiessner, 5/2)

The Supreme Court has yet to take up a case that answers the question of whether statewide bans on gender-affirming care are unconstitutional. That question, which would have far-reaching implications for trans youth and their families across the country, is at the center of a different legal battle in Tennessee the high court may choose to hear this year. Attorneys working for LGBTQ+ rights have asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the state’s trans care ban violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses. (Rummler, 5/2)

Georgia’s governor on Thursday signed a bill putting new regulations on the production and sale of products containing kratom, a plant-based supplement. The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, prohibits the sale of kratom to anyone under 21 and says it must be kept behind a counter or in a display area that is only accessible to store employees. It also limits the concentration of kratom’s main chemical components in products sold in Georgia, imposes new labeling requirements and adds penalties for violations. (Brumback, 5/2)

 A Pennsylvania nurse accused of killing three patients at skilled nursing facilities around the state and attempting to kill 19 other individuals in her care pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to life in prison, according to a news release from Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry. (Balarajan, Sykes and Alvarado, 5/2)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill banning lab-grown meat in his state Wednesday, in what he described as an effort to “save our beef.” “Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis said in a press release Wednesday. “Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef.” (Suter, 5/2)