The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, a constitutional dispute regarding the authority of state lawmakers to protect vulnerable kids from risky and unproven medical practices.
The Office of the Tennessee Attorney General presented a robust legal and evidence-based defense of the State’s legislative response to the recent explosion of childhood gender-transition interventions. The law at issue restricts the provision of irreversible medical interventions to minors with gender dysphoria — a psychiatric condition marked by mental distress from a conflict between a person’s sex and asserted gender identity.
“We are here defending Tennessee’s law protecting children from irreversible and unproven gender transition procedures,” said Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. “Tennessee’s General Assembly reviewed the medical evidence, as well as the evidence-based decisions of European countries that restricted these procedures, and ultimately passed this bipartisan law prohibiting irreversible medical interventions. The plaintiffs in this case are asking the Court to take the power to regulate the practice of medicine away from the people’s elected representatives and vest it in unaccountable judges.”
Challengers claim Tennessee law’s prohibition of the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of “gender transition” discriminates based on sex and transgender status, which they say is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Tennessee argued that the law presents an across-the-board rule that represents a reasonable exercise of the States’ longstanding authority to regulate the practice of medicine within their borders.
"Our arguments were ultimately about constitutional clarity and common sense," Skrmetti said. "Our Founders guaranteed States the right and responsibility to protect children, regulate the medical profession, and independently evaluate the evidence of the risks and benefits of practices to be regulated. We cannot allow ideology to override medical evidence at the expense of our right to self-government and our duty to protect our children."
The Supreme Court’s decision to review the law follows the Sixth Circuit ruling in favor of Tennessee’s and Kentucky’s laws prohibiting such procedures.
ERLC filed amicus brief in October
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) filed an amicus brief in October, in conjunction with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, in support of the state of Tennessee and the other respondents in the consolidated case. The ERLC originated the brief, providing the justices a compelling legal argument within the framework of biblical convictions regarding gender and sexuality.
“The Supreme Court’s decision will have a monumental impact on the safety and security of children vulnerable to a harmful gender ideology, not just in the state of Tennessee, but across the nation,” said Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, in October. “Harmful procedures, like hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgery impose lifelong, devastating consequences on their well-being. An amicus brief allows the ERLC to put these convictions and arguments in front of our justices and in many cases, can sway the outcome of the case.”
Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, also commented on the Skrmetti case.
“Tennessee Baptists stand behind the state of Tennessee in its protection of vulnerable lives and refusal to succumb to a culture confused on matters of gender,” said Davis. “The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 rightly proclaims, ‘Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation.’ To that end, it would be devastating for the Supreme Court to rule in a manner that strikes down this law that sets an important precedent and protects children.”
Leatherwood listened to the oral arguments on Wednesday and offered this assessment.
"Today's oral arguments highlighted exactly why Tennessee's law is so needed. As Tennessee's Solicitor General pointed out, these novel and experimental treatments often leave children infertile and with permanently damaged bodies," he said. "Given those harmful effects, it is not only entirely appropriate, but constitutionally permissible, for the state to intervene to protect these vulnerable minors. They need care and compassion, not a radical remaking of their bodies. While one can never draw a direct line from the questioning of the justices to the ultimate result, it was evident to everyone in the courtroom that a majority of the Court was skeptical of the U.S. government's arguments. Tennessee's law is good and just – and the Supreme Court should reject this challenge from the ACLU and the Biden Administration."
The law in question, Senate Bill 1 (S.B. 1), was passed by the Tennessee State Legislature, March 1, 2023, preventing healthcare providers from prescribing medications or performing procedures on minors to “transition” to an identity opposite of their biological sex.
In response to S.B. 1, three “transgender” individuals, their parents, and the American Civil Liberties Union quickly filed a lawsuit alleging Tennessee violated the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Biden administration’s Department of Justice joined the suit arguing the United States has a vested national interest in preventing the law from taking effect.
The Family Foundation of Ky. weighs in
The Family Foundation of Kentucky, along with several allied family policy organizations, previously joined an amicus brief supporting Tennessee’s protections for children against life-altering gender “transition” interventions that physically disorder their healthy bodies.
Nick Spencer, the director of policy for The Family Foundation, was in Washington on Wednesday in support of Tennessee’s law.
“The government has a duty to care for these children and promote their long-term flourishing by preventing these destructive procedures,” he said at a rally outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning. “States like Tennessee, my state of Kentucky, and others around the nation have taken the first step in that direction. We have risen to the moment and have met the challenge. We have proclaimed loudly that it is good for men to be men and women to be women.”
David Walls, executive director of the Family Foundation, also weighed in on the issue.
“We pray the High Court will uphold these commonsense laws protecting children from harmful ‘gender transitions.’ The Sixth Circuit was right to uphold Tennessee’s and Kentucky’s laws that protect children from these irreversible medical experiments that leave children physically and chemically mutilated.
“For all of human history, the truth that the human person is objectively and profoundly male or female has been the cornerstone of all civilizations. We pray that the Court’s decision will recognize the harms perpetrated upon children in the name of ‘gender-affirming’ care, and that they would rightly allow for Kentucky, Tennessee and other states to protect our most vulnerable fellow image-bearers from lifelong harm,” Walls said.
The group Do No Harm recently released a study that revealed that almost 14,000 children have undergone dangerous transgender procedures, which include mutilating surgeries, cross-sex hormone injections and puberty blockers.
The Family Foundation played an integral role in supporting the passage of Kentucky’s Senate Bill 150 in 2023 and in supporting its commonsense protections for children that ban these dangerous procedures.
The ruling, expected by June, will directly impact Kentucky’s case and the state’s law, since their decision could send it back to the Sixth Circuit appellate court, where the Kentucky and Tennessee cases were consolidated and ruled upon. If justices reverse the Sixth Court decision, it could immediately block Kentucky's ban.
Nick Spencer, policy director of the Family Foundation, was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to support Tennessee's law protecting children from gender transition intervention.
