Supreme Court to hear challenge to Tennessee law that bans transgender youth healthcare
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing a case this week that will determine the future of health care for transgender youth in Tennessee.
In 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed into law Senate Bill 1.
This law prohibits medical providers from giving minors under the age of 18 gender affirming care such as puberty blockers or gender reassignment surgery.
This is being challenged in the case U.S. v. Skrmetti, with both sides saying they see high stakes on the issue.
Chase Strangio, the lead attorney challenging Tennessee in this case who also identifies as a transgender man said, “My heart and the heart of every transgender person fighting this fight is heavy with the weight of what these laws and potential future laws mean for people’s everyday lives.”
The heart of the challenge in U-S v. Skrmetti is that in the opinion of the petitioners, the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U-S Constitution.
That clause has been at the center of previous landmark Supreme Court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education which overturned school segregation, and Obergfell v. Hodges which legalized same sex marriage nationally.
Dr. Susan Lacy, a gynecologist and reproductive health physician said, “Since Tennessee banned my minor patients from accessing these treatments, many have been forced to travel great distances just to maintain access to the healthcare that they need.”
Meanwhile, the state of Tennessee argues that the equal protection clause should not overturn this law, because they argue that the bill protects children from unproven medical procedures.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. William Lambeth of Portland, Tennessee said, “You start cutting off the body parts of a child, because you’re telling them somehow that one way or another there’s something wrong with their body, and they already think that it is dangerous, it is destructive, and I will say it, it is evil. What those children need is love, support, and mental health treatment.”
Those who have experienced trans health care are split on the issue.
Sasha Buchert, who is the director of Lambda Legal’s Transgender and Non-Binary Project, who identifies as a transgender woman, said, “We asked the justices to recognize that transgender Americans are entitled to protection from being targeted for existing and that gender affirming care is not just healthcare, it’s a lifeline for trans youth.”
Meanwhile Presha, who said that they were detransitioning after previously undergoing a sex change while still a teenager said, “I decided I did not want to be a woman before I had gotten to be one. I was a little girl, now I will never fully know what that is like. I fully support a bill from the undeniable harm that comes from gender affirmative care.”
The case will be heard in Washington on Wednesday, and decided sometime after.
