Tennessee: Supreme Court upholds ban on transgender treatments for minors
After a legal battle that lasted more than two years, six of the nine justices of the highest court upheld the law pushed by the Republican Party.
Supreme Court. Transgender flag
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Tennessee state law that prohibits minors' access to gender-affirming medical care.
By six votes to three, the Supreme Court validated the Republican-driven rule in Tennessee. With this ruling, no minor in the state will be able to resort to hormone treatments, puberty blockers or surgeries to change their sex.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated the decision made by the Supreme Court as soon as it was made public.
"Landmark VICTORY for Tennessee at SCOTUS in defense of America’s children!" wrote Skrmetti on social media.
Chief Justice Judge John Roberts, who voted in favor of the ban, was concise in arguing for his decision, alluding to the risks to which minors who want to surgically or pharmacologically reverse their sex are exposed.
"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. The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound. The Equal Protection Clause does not resolve these disagreements," Justice Roberts said.
Ruling "abandons transgender children"
One of the dissenting voices was that of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who noted that the Supreme Court ruling "abandons transgender children and their families to political whims."
The ruling causes "irrevocable damage to the Equal Protection Clause and invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight," Justice Sotomayor added.
In March 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, enacted a law which went into effect on July 1 of that same year to ban gender reassignment surgeries on minors and puberty-blocking treatments and hormones, following in the wake of other states that promoted similar initiatives, such as Utah, South Dakota and Mississippi.
As of that date, the law resulted in a legal battle that has concluded with the Supreme Court ruling, which has positioned itself in favor of banning such treatments for minors in the state.
LATEST
