The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has decided to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.
Today, the court released its ruling in the case of United States v. Skrmetti, which sought to fight against the state’s efforts to restrict access to care for transgender minors. This marks the first time SCOTUS heard a case regarding healthcare for the trans community. The ruling was a 6-3 decision, in which the court’s three liberal justices voted in the minority.
In September 2023, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed for the law restricting transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care to remain in effect.
The ruling came months after the court initially blocked the law from taking effect in July of the same year.
Governor Bill Lee signed the state law in March of 2023. It prohibits healthcare professionals from administering gender-affirming care to minors. This legislation makes gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers inaccessible for trans people in Tennessee until they reach the age of 18.
“This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field,” SCOTUS said.
State officials said they enacted their policy out of response to a “surge in the provision of puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries to minors with gender-identity issues.” They said these treatments often have “life-altering effects.”
SCOTUS went on to say they are not required to judge on “wisdom, fairness, and logic,” but to make sure a law does not violate equal protection guarantees — which they said Tennessee’s does not.
The court noted “concededly weak evidence” and cited concerns of irreversible effects on children. In his opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court has left it up to the states to decide “how best to address an area of medical uncertainty and extraordinary importance.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the court’s decision a “landmark victory for the state.”
“The common sense of Tennessee voters prevailed over judicial activism,” Skrmetti said. “A bipartisan supermajority of Tennessee’s elected representatives carefully considered the evidence and voted to protect kids from irreversible decisions they cannot fully understand.”
While the state argued that these are preventative measures, LGBTQ advocates argue that gender-affirming care is life-saving care. The Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) referenced information from groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics about the link between gender affirmation and mental well-being.
The advocacy group said they are concerned about what this ruling will say to other states.
“Instead of protecting young transgender people across the nation, states will now feel emboldened to codify discrimination more broadly in healthcare,” TEP said. “This ruling is yet another example of why governments, politicians, courts, and extremists have no place in the exam room, endangering every transgender person.”
Senator Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) condemned SCOTUS’ decision calling it a “harmful setback” for trans youth, parents, and doctors. She said Tennessee was concerned with politics and not the well-being of children and families.
“Let’s be clear: This ruling does not make the law moral and it does not make it right,” Akbari said. “History will remember who stood with kids and families.”
