Washington (EFE). – The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Tennessee state law that prohibits trans minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
The court voted along ideological lines, with the six conservative justices upholding the ban and the three liberal justices dissenting.
This decision could impact more than just Tennessee, as over 20 states have enacted similar legislation.
The Supreme Court determined that prohibiting transgender minors from accessing these treatments does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which requires the government to treat individuals in similar circumstances equally.
“Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
Roberts also highlighted the lack of knowledge that, according to him, exists about the effects of these treatments.
“Tennessee concluded that there is an ongoing debate among medical experts regarding the risks and benefits associated with administering puberty blockers and hormones to treat gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, and gender incongruence. (The law’s) ban on such treatments responds directly to that uncertainty,” he added.
Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal member of the Supreme Court, expressed her disapproval of the Court’s decision to uphold the contested ban.
“By retreating from meaningful judicial review exactly where it matters most, the court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims. In sadness, I dissent,” she wrote, joined by fellow liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration (2021-2025) and Tennessee families challenged the state’s ban, contending that it discriminated against transgender individuals.
They argued that the law permits the use of these medications to treat various medical conditions, such as congenital anomalies and early puberty, yet prohibits their use to treat gender dysphoria.
In response, Tennessee asserted that these treatments pose different risks and offer other benefits when administered to transgender youth.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated the ruling, saying it protected children from “irreversible decisions they cannot yet fully understand”.
The Supreme Court pointed out that the law removes one set of diagnoses, gender dysphoria, from the range of treatable conditions and does not exclude people from treatment because they are transgender.
After the case was argued in December, the Justice Department under President Donald Trump informed the court that it would no longer challenge Tennessee’s law, as Trump had made opposition to transgender rights a central theme of his campaign.
In the United States the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association, among others, support gender-affirming care for minors.
However, during their deliberations, the court’s conservative justices also considered legislation in European countries that have tightened restrictions on these kinds of treatments, such as England’s National Health Service which stopped prescribing the drugs outside of clinical trials. EFE mcd