The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled 6-3 on Wednesday to uphold a Tennessee ban on transgender surgeries and drugs for minors, setting an important precedent for the protection of children across the country and enraging LGBTQ activists.
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“Contrary to the representations of the United States and the private plaintiffs, there is no medical consensus on how best to treat gender dysphoria in children,” said Justice Clarence Thomas in his concurring opinion.
“There are particularly good reasons to question the expert class here, as recent revelations suggest that leading voices in this area have relied on questionable evidence, and have allowed ideology to influence their medical guidance,” he added.
The case, United States v. Skrmetti, was brought by the families of three transgender-identifying minors and a Tennessee doctor, who objected to Tennessee’s law preventing anyone under 18 from receiving transgender surgeries, which cause irreversible, permanent harm. It also prevents the use of hormone treatments or puberty blockers, also shown to cause permanent harm, to facilitate a gender transition in minors.
The Biden Administration joined the lawsuit alleging that the Tennessee law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.
The court voted with all conservative and conservative-leaning justices supporting the decision, while three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan, opposed it.
Dissenting justices claimed that the Tennessee bill does discriminate on the basis of sex, and thus the legality of the bill should be held to a higher, intermediate standard, rather than the “rational basis” standard applied by the prevailing opinion. Under the rational basis standard, the court only needs to determine that the state had some reasonable governmental interest in applying its law.
Under intermediate scrutiny, the court must find that the government has an important interest in its law and that the law’s methods are substantially related to that interest.
“Our role is not ‘to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic’ of the law before us, Beach Communications, 508 U. S., at 313, but only to ensure that it does not violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process,” said Chief Justice John Roberts in writing the majority opinion of the court and defending the standard used.
“Tennessee’s law expressly classifies on the basis of sex and transgender status, so the Constitution and settled precedent require the Court to subject it to intermediate scrutiny. The majority contorts logic and precedent to say otherwise, inexplicably declaring it must uphold Tennessee’s categorical ban on lifesaving medical treatment so long as ‘any reasonably conceivable state of facts’ might justify it,” said Sotomayor in her dissent.
Justice Thomas argued that the ruling did not make a judgment on the efficacy of so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors, but simply that the legal decision should be left in the hands of states, not the spurious evidence of alleged experts.
He warned that deference to experts has previously led to legal support for theories that allow for promoting certain traits and features in humans while terminating embryos that do not meet these preferences.
“When legislation does not cross constitutional lines, States must have leeway to effect the judgment of their citizens—no matter whether experts disagree. And, when this Court has nonetheless given exalted status to expert opinion, it has been to our detriment: Past deference to expertise provided the theory of eugenics,” said Thomas.
The ruling predictably drew support from parental rights advocates and opposition from LGBTQ activists.
“I continue to maintain that the issue of biological males participating in girls’ sports in Maine will also need to be decided in the courts, as the Democrat majority have voted down ALL legislation that would ensure our girls a fair, safe, and level field,” said Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) responding to the decision.
“GREAT NEWS!!! We need parents in every states to leverage this and end the transgender cult. Bury it deep into the earth’s core. There is no such thing as a trans child. It’s the greatest medical fraud we’ve ever seen,” said parental rights activist Alvin Lui, president of Courage Is A Habit.
Maine Trans Net, an organization that promotes irreversible transgender surgeries for minors, expressed its disgust over the ruling.
“This decision is a devastating blow to trans youth and their families across the country. By upholding this ban, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to allow state law to override the needs, wants, and decisions of trans minors, their families, and their healthcare providers,” said the organization.
The American Psychological Association also publicly denounced the decision.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is a setback for science, public health, and human rights. Not only does it disregard decades of psychological research, and clinical consensus, but it also jeopardizes the health and well-being of transgender youth across the country,” said the organization.
Like the momentous Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, which left the abortion issue up to individual states, Wednesday’s decision gives states the freedom to decide whether to allow minors to undergo irreversible elective surgeries or take drugs that harm fertility and bone development.
Currently, 25 states have laws restricting or banning transgender procedures and drugs for minors that will likely be upheld based on the precedent set by Wednesday’s ruling.
- Arizona: Ban on surgeries only.
- New Hampshire: Ban on surgeries only.
- Idaho: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Utah: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Wyoming: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- North Dakota: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- South Dakota: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Nebraska: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Kansas: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Oklahoma: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Texas: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Iowa: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Missouri: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Louisiana: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Mississippi: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Alabama: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Tennessee: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Kentuky: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Indiana: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Ohio: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- West Virginia: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- North Carolin: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- South Carolina: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Georgia: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
- Florida: Ban on surgeries and drugs.
