SCOTUS to hear oral arguments on TN ban on providing trans treatments to minors

Last year, the state of Tennessee banned the practice of allowing doctors and nurses to provide certain medical treatments to transgender patients under the age of 18.

The banned treatments, which took effect in the state last year, include puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries, and they are the type against which former President Donald Trump has spoken.

According to Tennessee Lookout, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case regarding that law after three young people and their families took legal action against the state.

The law banning the treatments for minors was a top priority for Tennessee Republicans, even going as far as naming the bill House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1.

Several groups banded together to sue the state on behalf of a 16-year-old transgender girl, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal and private law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

The transgender girl was receiving puberty blockers and estrogen therapy. The other patients were transgender boys, one 13-year-old and a 16-year-old.

Their parents were also part of the lawsuit along with at least one doctor who treats transgender patients.

NEWS: SCOTUS announces that the arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, over Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, will take place on the morning of Dec. 4. https://t.co/whx0Gr7GkF pic.twitter.com/Ano726P5jn

— Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) October 18, 2024

There were plenty of legal battles regarding the law early on. The law was initially blocked from going into effect by a federal court earlier this year, but the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling.

That led to the Biden-Harris administration filing an appeal to once again block the law from going into effect.

Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, released a statement on the ongoing battle, clearly politicizing the matter.

“We’ve seen just how far extreme politicians will push to deny us our reproductive freedom, from banning abortion to threatening IVF to even threatening to put doctors in jail for providing emergency care, with deadly consequences for women’s lives,” Dalven wrote in a statement.

Dalven added, "The same politicians who are trying to control women have now set their sights on transgender people and their families and are trying to control their bodies and lives. Allowing politicians to continue down this road could hold severe implications for the freedom of all people to decide what is right for their own body."

Only time will tell how the conservative majority high court will ultimately rule on the matter.