trans healthcare in tennessee

Advocacy groups and organizations have shared their thoughts on the Supreme Court of The United States’ (SCOTUS) decision to hear a challenge on Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors in the state.

While the case will not be heard until next fall, organizations such as the ACLU and OUTMemphis are hoping that SCOTUS rules in favor of trans youth.

“This case started with trans youth in the Mid-South and Tennessee and the folks who care for them, after our state passed laws denying life-saving health care,” Molly Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis said. “ A year later, with more than 20 states outlawing this care and over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, this fight is a centerpiece of the pathway to queer and trans justice in our country, which we will never give up on. If the court sides with Tennessee’s unlawful ban, the state can and will escalate its discrimination against trans people and the broader LGBTQ+ community.”

In September of 2023 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed for the law restricting transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care to remain in effect.

The ruling came months after the court initially blocked the law from taking effect in July of the same year.

The state law was signed by Governor Bill Lee in March of 2023, and prohibits healthcare professionals from administering gender-affirming care to minors.This legislation makes gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers inaccessible and trans people in Tennessee will not have access to this care until they reach the age of 18. Similar restrictions have been made in states like Arkansas and Alabama.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) they along with the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP asked the Supreme Court to review the September ruling.

“The United States intervened in the plaintffs’ case at the district court and also asked the court to review the Sixth Circuit decision,” the ACLU said in a statement.

Quinn added that trans youth want “the freedom to live joyful and authentic lives,” and said their livelihood could be at stake if the court sides with the state.

“A better and freer world takes every kind of effort, and we hope the court will limit state overreach as Tennessee and states like it attempt to stand in the way of our futures,” Quinn said.

Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, a plaintiff’s attorney on the case and OUTMemphis Board of Directors member, said this case is about “curbing government interference in our lives.” In a statement released by ACLU-TN, Cameron-Vaughn shared Quinn’s sentiments regarding Tennessean’s rights to live their truth.

“Tennesseans deserve the freedom to live their lives as their authentic selves without government interference, yet every day this law remains in place, it inflicts further pain and injustice on trans youth and their families,” Cameron-Vaughn said. “The Court has the power to protect trans youth’s right to access the healthcare they need by striking down this discriminatory law.”

Other organizations are hoping that SCOTUS can provide more guidance and relief nationwide and that this will set the proper precedent for the country moving forward.

During a press conference to reflect on the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi CEO Ashley Coffield said it’s remarkable that the law will be heard.

“I agree with the Biden Administration that this is a really confusing time for families of minors with gender dysphoria and that it is critical that we have legal guidance to follow so that this is not like abortion, where it is state-by-state and is a total mess, and people are confused and scared and don’t know what’s going on,” Coffield said.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed for the Tennessee law that restricts transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care to remain in effect. This ruling comes months after the court initially blocked the law from taking effect in July.

Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Tennessee (ACLU-TN), and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of Samatha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their 15-year-old daughter, L.W., in April of this year. The suit was also filed on behalf of two other families, as well as Dr. Susan N. Lacy.

The state law was signed by Governor Bill Lee in March. It prohibits healthcare professionals from administering gender-affirming care to minors. The law was set to take effect on July 1st.

This legislation makes gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers inaccessible and trans people in Tennessee will not have access to this care until they reach the age of 18. Similar restrictions have been made in states like Arkansas and Alabama.

“The law prohibits medical providers from treating transgender youth with evidence-based, gender-affirming medical treatment and requires youth currently receiving gender-affirming care to end that care by March 31st, 2024,” said the ACLU.

Following the ruling, Lambda Legal, ACLU, ACLU-TN, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP issued a joint statement calling the ruling a “devastating result for transgender youth and their families in Tennessee and across the region.”

“The disastrous impact of Tennessee’s law and all others like it has already been felt in thousands of homes and communities,” the statement said. “Denying transgender youth equality before the law and needlessly withholding the necessary medical care their families and their doctors know is right for them has caused and will continue to cause serious harm. We are assessing our next steps and will take further action in defense of our clients and the constitutional rights of transgender people in Tennessee and across the country.”

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the ruling “a big win for democracy.”

“Decisions that are not clearly resolved by the Constitution should be resolved by the people through their elected representatives,” Skrmetti said in a statement. “I am so proud of our team who stood strong against the overwhelming resources arrayed against Tennessee in this case.”

Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, delivered the opinion, citing work from medical organizations such as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

“Throughout this period, the association expressed caution about using medical interventions that would alter the secondary characteristics of an individual’s biological sex,” Sutton wrote.

Sutton also argued that there is a “long tradition of permitting state governments to regulate medical treatments for adults and children.”

“So long as a federal statute does not stand in the way and so long as an enumerated constitutional guarantee does not apply, the states may regulate or ban medical technologies they deem unsafe,” Sutton said.

The opinion also said that “parental rights do not alter this conclusion because parents do not have a constitutional right to obtain reasonably banned treatments for their children.”

However, the dissenting opinion, written by circuit judge Helene N. White, argues that the law “deprives parents of their right to make medical decisions affecting their children.”