January 16, 2025
5 min read
The Supreme Court’s Case on Trans Health Shows Why Patients Should Make the Decisions
Supreme Court arguments over trans health care makes plain how badly we need personalized health care in all of medicine
A transgender rights supporter takes part in a rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court as the high court hears arguments in a case on transgender health rights on December 04, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Since 2021 a legal tug-of-war over state bans on health care for transgender youth has wound through U.S. courts. Many judges ruled that bans discriminate against a group of people who should enjoy constitutional protections. Others sustained states’ claims that such bans protect minors and that trans youth should wait until legal adulthood to be themselves.
Now the question before the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Skrmetti is one of sex-based discrimination. Does Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care violate the Constitution because it imposes differential access to hormones and puberty-pausing medications on the basis of sex?
In December’s arguments many of the flawed pseudoscientific justifications for this ban were rehashed, but the justices are tasked with an opinion on the constitutional merits of the case, rather than scientific evidence. Even so, it bears noting that Tennessee’s law is a bad-faith policy that bans medical care in totality over claims that treatment-supporting research doesn’t clear an arbitrary bar set by politicians; especially as they set that bar far above acceptable standards in every other area of medicine.
On supporting science journalism
If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
With a final decision anticipated this year,…
Read the full article here
