Supreme Court Upholds Tenn. Ban On Transgender Drugs For Kids
Charlie Kirk Staff
06/18/2025

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law banning transgender-related drugs and surgeries for minors, marking a significant victory for conservative activists and parent groups.
In a 6-3 decision in United States v. Skrmetti, the Court ruled that Tennessee’s law does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti defended the legislation during oral arguments in December, describing it as an effort to “protect kids from the consequences of decisions that they cannot fully understand.”
Chief Justice John Roberts penned the court’s opinion and said the plaintiffs “contort the meaning of the term ‘medical treatment.’”
“Notably absent from their framing is a key aspect of any medical treatment: the underlying medical concern the treatment is intended to address,” Roberts wrote.
The majority also rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the law discriminated on the basis of sex.
“The law does not prohibit conduct for one sex that it permits for the other,” Roberts wrote. “Under SB1, no minor may be administered puberty blockers or hormones to treat gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, or gender incongruence; minors of any sex may be administered puberty blockers or hormones for other purposes.”
Roberts also noted that the number of minors requesting “sex transition treatments” has increased in recent years, while there have been “rising debates regarding the relative risks and benefits of such treatments” including European countries cracking down on these procedures and drugs.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion in which he said, “there is no medical consensus on how best to treat gender dysphoria in children,” and “recent revelations suggest that leading voices in this area have relied on questionable evidence, and have allowed ideology to influence their medical guidance.”
Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Samuel Alito each authored concurring opinions, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.