This blog originally appeared at CNN.
Supreme Court to rule on states’ ability to limit gender-affirming care for minors
CNN – The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear the Biden administration’s challenge to Tennessee’s transgender care ban, addressing the contentious issue of gender-affirming care in depth for the first time.
The Tennessee law, enacted last year, prohibits hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors and imposes civil penalties on doctors who violate these prohibitions. This law is part of a growing trend of state legislation targeting transgender care.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, nearly half of U.S. states have enacted bans on transgender care for minors.
The case is scheduled to be heard this fall.
“The Supreme Court was always going to have to resolve how state bans on gender-affirming medical care can be reconciled with its approach to sex-based discrimination,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. “Today’s grant sets up this issue as one of the early blockbusters for the Court’s upcoming term.”
Laws in Kentucky and Tennessee were challenged by the Biden administration and families of transgender minors. However, the Supreme Court only agreed to hear the Biden administration’s challenge against the Tennessee law.
In September, the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed a district court ruling that had blocked the enforcement of the gender-affirming care ban. This decision allowed the ban to take effect.
Republican lawmakers supporting the ban argue that decisions about gender-affirming care should be made once an individual reaches adulthood. Opponents contend that these laws not only violate the civil rights of transgender youth but also infringe on parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children.
Tennessee’s law prohibits medical providers from performing procedures that “enable a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex” or “treat purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.”
Legal battles over similar bans have been progressing through federal courts for over a year. In April, the Supreme Court temporarily allowed Idaho officials to enforce a strict statewide ban on gender-affirming care for most minors, though it did not resolve the underlying legal questions.
Several advocacy groups for transgender youth have urged the Supreme Court to strike down Tennessee’s law.
“It’s simple: Everyone deserves access to the medical care that they need, and transgender and non-binary young people are no exception,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “No politician should be able to interfere in decisions that are best made between families and doctors, particularly when that care is necessary and best practice.”
Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, criticized state lawmakers for using the bans to “fuel divisions for their own political gain.”
“It’s crucial to recognize that for trans youth and their families, this isn’t about politics,” Cameron-Vaughn said. “It’s about the fundamental freedom to access vital, life-saving healthcare.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican, expressed his eagerness to defend the law.
“This case will bring much-needed clarity to whether the Constitution contains special protections for gender identity,” he said.
fleeredstates.blog 
Leave a comment