Tennessee Transition Care Ban Faces Challenge From Transgender Minors, Families

Transgender minors and their families are challenging Tennessee's transition care ban by asking the Supreme Court to block such legislation.

The plaintiffs are petitioning for the nation's highest court to intervene for the first time regarding the controversial issue. The situation comes after a wave of conservative-backed legislation that targets transgender people.

Tennessee's Transition Care Ban

Tennessee Transition Care Ban Faces Challenge From Transgender Minors, Families

(Photo : Leonardo Munoz / AFP) (LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Transgender minors and their families are asking the United States Supreme Court to review a ban in Tennessee that prohibits transition care.

The petition comes a little over a month after a divided federal appeals panel allowed bans to remain in effect in Kentucky and Tennessee. It added to a complicated legal landscape for transgender children and their families.

The legislation prohibits minors from receiving transition care, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers. If the Supreme Court does agree to hear the case, any ruling that it has would most likely reverberate across the legal challenges in the majority of the more than 20 states that have passed similar bans.

Several conservative lawmakers have argued that the bans are necessary to prevent children from undergoing medical procedures that they see as risky and unproven. However, transgender people and their families countered by saying that the laws create a stressful and uncertain environment for them and their medical providers, as per the New York Times.

A federal judge in Arkansas struck down a ban in June that was the first in the United States. However, conflicting rulings since then have further muddled access to transition care in the country. There have been a series of rulings that stalled the implementation of the bans. Additionally, some judges have ruled to allow the laws to go into effect, at least temporarily.

The divisions between federal appeals courts regarding the issue make review by the Supreme Court more likely but still not guaranteed. In a statement, a 15-year-old from Tennessee, identified simply as LW, said that they were fighting because of the importance of the care for the tens of thousands of transgender youth.

The teenager's mother, Samantha Williams, wanted the US Supreme Court to "see and understand my daughter and recognize her rights under the Constitution like any other person."

Fighting for Necessary Healthcare

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti described the decision of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals as a "big win for democracy." On the other hand, Kentucky attorneys representing transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers argued that they plan to petition the Supreme Court later this week, according to the Associated Press.

Additionally, advocates for transgender kids said that having access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy is safe and necessary healthcare that every major medical group supports.

Legal experts argued that the Supreme Court will most likely rule on whether the bans violate the Constitution. However, the nation's highest court has great flexibility in deciding when and how to take the cases. On average, the court receives thousands of petitions yearly, which takes fewer than 70 or so.

The court has historically taken cases when the issue at hand is of great significance and the lower courts have issued contradictory rulings. This comes as there have only been two higher courts that issued rulings regarding the legislative bans and both were in support, said the Washington Post.