NBC News
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ratified a Tennessee law that restricts medical attention to minors for gender transition, advising a hard blow to the rights of trans people.
It is likely that the sentence (6-3) has A wide impact in the United States, as another 24 states They have already promulgated laws similar to that of Tennessee, which prohibits gender transition surgery, puberty blockers and hormonal therapy.
Now it seems much more likely that these laws survive challenges. The Supreme Court judgment does not affect states that do not prohibit this type, which means that attention in these places will continue to be available.
In an opinion written by the president of the highest court, John Roberts, the Court concluded that Tennessee’s law does not constitute a form of discrimination due to sex that violates the amendment 14 of the Constitution.
Those who advocate for the rights of trans people have warned that a sentence that allows for prohibiting attention to trans minors could pave the path to similar restrictions aimed at transgender adults.
The legal appeal was presented by the administration of former president Joe Biden, as well as by trans adolescents and their families.
The ruling does not definitely resolve all legal issues related to state prohibitions, since it did not address a separate argument by virtue of amendment 14 that laws violate parents’ right to make medical care decisions for their children.
After his inauguration in January, the president, Donald Trump, has proposed to undo the Biden policies that sought to strengthen the rights of trans people. Among other things, he signed an executive order to restrict medical care for gender statement for adolescents throughout the country.
Trump has also imposed new restrictions on trans people who serve in the army.
Promulgated in 2023, Tennessee’s law is part of a wave of similar measures adopted by states that are imposing restrictions on gender transition treatments. In defending their prohibition, state lawyers indicated similar measures adopted in other countries, including some in Europe.
The Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, highlighted in the judicial documents the evolution of the debate about the best way to treat minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the clinical term with which the anguish that people can experience when their gender identity is conflicted with which they were assigned to birth is designated.
The main medical organizations claim that gender reaffirmation treatments are an effective way to treat gender dysphoria.
The plaintiffs argued that the law is a form of discrimination based on sex, which violates the equal protection clause of amendment 14 because the treatments in question – blockers of puberty and hormonal therapy – can be used in other situations.
This Wednesday’s judgment is the most important on trans rights since in 2020, to many, the Court ruled that federal labor protections cover both gender identity and sexual orientation.
The litigation arrived at the Supreme Court after the United States Court of Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati, rejected in 2023 the challenges of the Tennessee Law and of a similar measure in Kentucky.
