The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, marking a significant decision with potential implications for transgender rights across the nation. The ruling was made with a 6-3 majority, reflecting a division among the justices.
Kara Ingelhart, director of the LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic and clinical assistant professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, expressed concern over the ruling. "This is a major setback to trans rights and to equal protection doctrine," she stated.
In their dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her liberal colleagues criticized the majority decision. They wrote that it "abandons transgender children and their families to political whims."
The court's decision could pave the way for other states to implement similar bans. Currently, 26 states have laws like Tennessee's that restrict access to gender-affirming care for minors.
Professor Ingelhart voiced agreement with Justice Sotomayor’s critique of the ruling as discriminatory. “I agree whole-heartedly with Justice Sotomayor’s dissenting words critiquing the majority’s gymnastic approach to the question of sex-based discrimination and its holding that denying health care to one group (trans kids for gender dysphoria), but not another (cis kids for precocious puberty or other diagnoses) survives rational basis,” she said.
Despite her personal disappointment, Ingelhart emphasized that advocacy efforts will persist. “Although I’m personally feeling devastated and I’m deeply concerned for the community, this setback doesn’t take away other tools in our belts as advocates including other live claims in this case as well as community organizing. The fight to protect access to life-saving health care will continue.”
For media inquiries or interviews with Professor Ingelhart, contact Shanice Harris at shanice.harris@northwestern.edu.