State Attorney Casey Copeland’s contract was terminated when he criticized a legislator for sponsoring a law that bans transgender youth’s access to healthcare in Arkansas, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the state’s American Civil Liberties Union branch on Wednesday.

Copeland was working as a contract attorney for the state court system, and got the termination notification within two days of using his personal account to email his state representative, Rep. Charlene Fite, a press release states.

“As a citizen, I felt I had an obligation to tell my state representative about the harm this bill would have,” Copeland said in a statement.

The lawsuit asks the court to block the contract termination, asserting that Copeland’s constitutional rights to free speech were violated by state officials.

“Casey Copeland had every right to express his opposition to this harmful legislation and urge his representative to oppose it,” ACLU Arkansas Holly Dickson said in a statement. “But instead of respecting his First Amendment right to express his views on a matter of public concern, state officials cancelled his contract in a clear violation of his protected right to engage in political speech.”

Arkansas became the first state to ban doctors from providing gender-affirming healthcare including reversible puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries to transgender youth in April.

Four families with transgender children, along with two doctors who provide gender-affirming healthcare, represented by ACLU Arkansas, filed suit last week to challenge the constitutionality of the law before it goes into effect in July.