The Supreme Court hesitates to overturn Tennessee’s transgender law

A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices appear unwilling to lift Tennessee’s ban on hormone therapy and puberty blockers for children under 18.

The Supreme Court heard arguments on transgender law Wednesday and its decision, expected next year, could impact similar laws in 25 other states.

Three transgender teenagers from Tennesseeher parents and a doctor have argued that the Ban 2023 violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantee and claims it discriminates on the basis of gender.

The hearing was the first time the current court, which has a conservative majority, openly discussed a significant battle in the U.S. “culture wars.”

The Biden administration and U.S. medical groups argue that the law bars transgender people from accessing medications and therapies available to other youth with medical needs. They also say it limits parents’ rights to get the care they need for their children.

During Wednesday’s hour-long hearing, five of the nine Supreme Court justices expressed doubts about the legal challenge to the ban and the arguments made by lawyers for the families and the administration.

Chief Justice John Roberts questioned whether judges should decide what he described as a medical matter – saying such questions have traditionally been left to state legislatures.

“The Constitution leaves this question to the people’s representatives, not nine people, none of whom are doctors,” he said.

The court’s three liberal justices appeared to be firmly on the side of Tennessee families.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson compared the law to legislation banning interracial marriages that was abolished in the 1960s.

“The laws here work the same way,” she said. “The question of whether you could marry this other person depended on your race.”

“I assume your law essentially does the same thing,” she added.

Tennessee Attorney General J Matthew Rice refused, repeatedly arguing that the law did not discriminate based on gender.

Mr. Rice argued that the law aims to “protect minors from risky, unproven medical procedures.”

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that federal law prohibits discrimination against transgender employees.

Earlier this year, the court also upheld a ban on transgender medical treatments for children in Idaho, but offered no opinion on the constitutionality of the law.