6.18.25
“U.S. Supremes Rule 6 to 3 Against Gender Trans Treatments for Minors”
From Donna Garner
TENNESSEE LAW – NO MORE TRANS MEDICAL TREATMENTS FOR MINORS
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Tennessee law banning transgender medical procedures for adolescents in the state is not discriminatory, ruling 6-3 to uphold the law.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion.
…Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the decision.
In a 6-3 decision released on June 18 [2025], the court disagreed with the Biden administration’s argument that the law should face higher legal scrutiny than had been applied by an appeals court.
The Biden administration attempted to…say that Tennessee’s law discriminated on the basis of sex.
The case was perhaps the most hotly anticipated for the term.
At issue in the case, United States v. Skrmetti, was whether Tennessee's Senate Bill 1, which "prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow 'a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex' or to treat 'purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity,'" violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
…"This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field," he [Justice Roberts] said. "The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound."
…[the Tennessee law in question] prohibits states from allowing medical providers to deliver puberty blockers and hormones to facilitate a minor's transition to another sex.
It [the Tennessee law in question] also targets healthcare providers in the state who continue to provide such procedures to gender-dysphoric minors – opening these providers up to fines, lawsuits and other liability.
Justice Samuel Alito cited "hotly disputed" medical studies on the alleged benefits of such medical treatments.
[Justice Alito] He also referred to other research from Great Britain and Sweden that reported on the negative consequences teens experienced after undergoing gender transition treatments.
Alito told the government's attorney that those studies "found a complete lack of high-quality evidence showing that the benefits of the treatments in question here outweigh the risks."
TRUMP SUPPORTS TENNESSEE LAW
…the Trump administration notified the Supreme Court in February [2025] that the government would be changing its stance on the constitutionality of the law, saying the Tennessee law does NOT violate the equal protection clause.
…Tennessee argued then that its law can still withstand even the test of heightened scrutiny, contending in a court brief that it does have "compelling interests" to protect the health and safety of minors in the state and "in protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession."
…President Donald Trump cracked down on the issue almost immediately after being sworn in to his second White House term in January.
Just weeks after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order preventing biological men from competing in women's sports.
The order, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," was signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
It prohibits schools and colleges that receive federal funds and are subject to Title IX from allowing transgender-identifying biological men onto women's sports teams and into women's locker rooms and restrooms.
If such institutions fail to comply with the order, they could become subject to investigations and lose federal funds…
MORE INFORMATION
Excerpts from sources used in this article:
6.18.25 – “SCOTUS Rules on State Ban on Gender Transition ‘Treatments’ for Minors in Landmark Case” -- By Haley Chi-Sing, Breanne Deppisch – Fox News --https://www.foxnews.com/politics/scotus-rules-state-ban-gender-transition-treatments-minors-landmark-case
6.18.25 – “Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee’s Ban on ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors” – by Sam Dorman – Epoch Times -- https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-court-upholds-tennessees-ban-on-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-5867052?utm_source=RTNews&src_src=RTNews&utm_campaign=rtbreaking-2025-06-18-1&src_cmp=rtbreaking-2025-06-18-1&utm_medium=email&est=ToDOn0wkv1vzCfEeKLJ%2Fqs2965O8ypImg5e8t0mRaST9jR8%2FDn5dSfGqAPYVB5Z9FDM%3D