The U.S. Supreme Court will enter a bitter battle over the treatment of transgender minors during its next term, following lobbying from everyone from the Biden administration to transgender actor Elliot Page.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to a Tennessee law that restricts the use of puberty-suppressing drugs and hormone therapy for minors.
Medical inhibitors can block the onset of puberty, potentially reducing the need for patients to undergo surgery or hormonal sex-change treatments in the future.
It can also be used to treat conditions such as precocious puberty, or when puberty starts too early.
Critics argue that minors are too young to decide whether to undergo sex-reassignment treatment for gender dysphoria and could face long-term consequences for their decision.
Approximately 42,000 children will be diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2021, According to database research company Komodo HealthBetween 2017 and 2021, 17,683 minors started puberty suppression drugs or hormone treatment, the data revealed.
Nearly half of U.S. states have enacted regulations similar to Tennessee’s, and most of them are facing some sort of lawsuit. Last month, South Carolina approved a similar set of restrictions..
The Supreme Court, which next session begins in October, has never considered the constitutionality of such bans and has rarely heard transgender cases.
The Biden administration argues that the restrictions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
“Without this Court’s review, families in Tennessee and other states with laws like SB1 on the books will lose out on basic health care,” said U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Preloger. wrote in the petition We refer you to a companion bill in the Volunteer State, known as Senate Bill 1, for your review.
“Those who can afford it may leave their homes, jobs, schools and communities to move to states where they can get the care they need — a choice that others may not even have,” Preggorer wrote.
The Tennessee law in question went into effect in July 2023. The law also restricts sex-reassignment surgery for minors, but that is not the issue at issue before the Supreme Court.
Anyone who violates the law in Tennessee can be subject to a $25,000 fine and other liabilities.
Behind the lawsuit are two transgender boys, one transgender girl and one doctor who argue the policy is unconstitutional.
A federal court initially found the policy likely to be unconstitutional and issued an injunction, but then a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned the order, leading to an appeal to the Supreme Court.
At least 57 transgender people like Page have asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
Now that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear U.S. v. Scurmetti, oral arguments will likely begin in the fall.
As of now, there are at least 14 more cases that the Supreme Court is scheduled to decide. The high court is expected to announce some of its decisions on Wednesday.
