Oral arguments address the state’s ban on transgender interventions for those under 18.
The Supreme Court heard arguments this week in the case against Tennessee’s law banning transgender interventions for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery. The majority sounded inclined to leave the ban in place. Though the court’s final decision will not be issued for months, five of the justices said localized healthcare decisions should be left up to the states, not the court system.
”The Constitution leaves that question to the people’s representatives, rather than to nine people, none of whom is a doctor,” Chief Justice Roberts said in an exchange with the lawyer for families challenging the ban.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh agreed with an argument made by Tennessee that pointed to the findings of health authorities in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, which say transgender medical treatments for youth “pose significant risks with unproven benefits.”
If those countries “are pumping the brakes on this kind of treatment,” Justice Kavanaugh asked, why should the Supreme Court question Tennessee’s actions?
Advocates of the transgender procedures acknowledged during oral arguments that cross-sex hormones may cause infertility, people may later regret the interventions, and the procedures have not been shown to lower suicide rates.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For discernment for the Supreme Court justices as they deliberate the ramifications of minors receiving transgender interventions.
- For state officials as they seek to protect adolescents and children from irreversible transgender procedures.
Sources: AP News, Daily Wire
