The Supreme Court is getting ready to hear a case that could transform the future of transgender health care in the United States. The nation’s highest court will hear a case Wednesday, Dec. 4, over whether a Tennessee law banning puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery for trans minors discriminates based on sex.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal argue it discriminates by banning those forms of care only as treatment for gender dysphoria.
Under the law, minors who need the treatments for other reasons can still get them. One example is puberty blockers being used to treat children who experience early puberty.
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Days after the ACLU filed suit against Tennessee’s law in April 2023, the Justice Department intervened. It filed its own complaint against the law, arguing it violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
While an appeals court had already ruled to uphold Tennessee’s law, the Supreme Court granted the Biden administration’s appeal. The Supreme Court will not consider the part of the law that bans surgery because the lower court’s injunction didn’t cover it.
Tennessee’s attorney general argues the law doesn’t discriminate based on sex. He says it “draws a line between minors seeking drugs for gender transition and minors seeking drugs for other medical purposes,” adding “boys and girls fall on both sides of that line.”
Currently, 26 states have laws restricting gender-affirming care for youth, but they’re not all uniform. If the Supreme Court lets Tennessee’s law stand, it’ll effectively leave the decision up to states. As a result, different states would still be offering various levels of access to care for trans minors.
