The Supreme Court will hear the case over Tennessee’s law banning transgender surgeries for minors

Washington, DC Newsroom, October 23, 2024 / 11:40 am

The United States Supreme Court is expected to hear a case to determine the legality of a Tennessee law that bans doctors from performing so-called transgender surgeries on minors and prohibits doctors from prescribing them puberty blockers and hormones.

The law is facing a legal challenge from the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as three families in the state.

Although the case only specifically addresses Tennessee law, a Supreme Court ruling could set a nationwide precedent that would apply to state laws across the country that ban gender transition surgeries and medications for children. More than twenty states restrict or prohibit doctors from performing such surgeries or dispensing such medications to patients under the age of 18.

The court scheduled oral arguments to hear the case in December — less than two years after Gov. Bill Lee signed the ban into law.

State law prohibits doctors from performing surgeries on a minor’s genitals that are intended to make them resemble the genitals of the opposite sex. It also bans breast surgery and other aesthetic operations intended to make the child look more like the opposite sex.

The law further prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, which slow a child’s natural development during puberty, if the intent is to facilitate a gender transition. It also prevents doctors from prescribing estrogen to boys and testosterone to girls if the intention is to facilitate a gender transition.

Doctors and health care providers could be fined up to $25,000 for violating state law.

A report published earlier this month by the medical watchdog group Do No Harm found that doctors in the United States provided at least 13,994 children with transgender drugs or surgery. The report identified more than 5,700 children who underwent transgender surgeries, but also noted that these numbers are likely higher because some data is not publicly available.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is defending the law in court against challenges from the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) and three Tennessee families represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee.

A complaint filed by the DOJ calls transgender medicine and surgery for minors “medically necessary care.” It argues that the state law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by discriminating “on the basis of sex and on the basis of transgender status in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson told CNA that the DOJ does not comment on pending litigation.

The ACLU filing with the Supreme Court makes similar arguments, stating that “discrimination based on a person’s transgender status necessarily involves differential treatment based in part on sex assigned at birth.”

The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment guarantees every person “equal protection of the laws” in every state.

CNA reached out to the Tennessee ACLU for comment but did not receive a response by time of publication. In a message on Xwrote the Tennessee ACLU that “trans youth deserve the same opportunity to thrive as their peers.”

“Trans youth deserve a future,” the message read. “Gender-affirming care is life-saving care, and we are prepared to courageously stand for it. Tennessee, we’ll see you in court.”

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Tennessee attorney general’s office referred CNA to an Oct. 18 op-ed published by Skrmetti in The Hill.

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“Many clinicians, states and countries share Tennessee’s views on gender transition interventions for minors; the federal government and others do not,” Skrmetti wrote.

“People who disagree with Tennessee law can advocate for a different law through the democratic process,” he added. “While the federal government is free to prefer its ‘transition-first, ask-questions-later’ approach, the Constitution does not bind Tennessee to that same choice.”