WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Skrmetti, upholding the constitutionality of Tennessee’s prohibition on “gender-affirming care” — a phrase that nearly always refers to genital mutilation and chemical castration — for minors. America First Legal (AFL) filed an amicus brief supporting Tennessee’s position and urging the Court to rule on the merits of the case. In its decision, the Court did just that, correctly applying rational-basis review and rejecting the radical left’s effort to manufacture a constitutional right to puberty blockers, experimental sex-transition drugs, and irreversible sterilization procedures for children.
Equal protection clause analysis requires determining a statute’s classifications of the individuals impacted. Here, the Supreme Court held that Tennessee’s statute classified based on age (minors) and medical use, and not sex. Tennessee’s ban on medical procedures for minors was required to pass rational basis review. Rational basis review requires a state to show the law is rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest. The Court agreed that the law passed rational basis review.
The Court agreed with AFL’s argument that it should reach the merits of the question and determine if this law is problematic. Other state legislatures were waiting for the Supreme Court to decide this issue so that they could pass similar laws. Now that the Supreme Court has identified the analytical framework related to bans on experimental medical treatments for minors, other legislatures have a clear path to passing similar laws.
“This is a tremendous victory for common sense and for parents across the United States. Future generations of Americans are going to wonder about the period of time in which the left decided that the genital mutilation and chemical castration of kids was not only fine, but something guaranteed by the Constitution. America First Legal is proud to have supported the great work of Attorney General Skrmetti and the entire litigating team in this case,“ said Gene Hamilton, America First Legal President.
Read the opinion here.
Read AFL’s amicus brief here.
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Photo credit / Adobe Stock: swisshippo
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