When the judicial year of the Supreme Court of the United States enters its climax, on the eve of the publication of the most controversial rulings, the judges have admitted to processing what will be one of the most controversial cases of the next year. In the list of new resources, one that has been presented by the Joe Biden Government against a law approved by the State of Tennessee that prohibits certain medical treatments for trans minors stands out. It is the first time that the Supreme Court has admitted to ruling on the merits of the issue in a case that has become an area of bitter ideological and social confrontation in the United States.
The admitted case is United States v. Skrmetti. The appeals before the Supreme Court are presented in the form of a question and the one that the Biden Government posed in this case is whether Tennessee’s SB1 law, which prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow “a minor to identify with, or live as, an alleged identity incompatible with the sex of the minor” or to address “an alleged discomfort or distress arising from a mismatch between the sex of the minor and the asserted identity,” violates the equality clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The Supreme Court has included the appeal in the list of admitted cases published this Monday.
The law in question restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. Numerous Republican states have passed similar laws against “gender-affirming” therapy, making the significance of the case enormous. The doctrine of the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority of six judges to three, will be applied throughout the country. The actor Elliot Page is one of the 57 transsexuals who joined a brief of allegations in favor of the review of the law by the Supreme Court.
While Democratic states have passed laws protecting transgender rights, Republicans have promoted rules that limit not only medical treatments, but also extend to participation in school sports, the use of bathrooms or even representation of shows by transsexual people. In the federal courts before which challenges have been presented, there have been rulings to the contrary, so it will be up to the Supreme Court to unify the doctrine.
Last April, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court temporarily endorsed an Idaho law that prohibits the treatment of trans youth in that State and contemplates a punishment of up to 10 years in prison for doctors who provide hormones, perform surgeries or provide exchange therapies. of sex to those under 18 years of age. On that occasion it was a precautionary decision, while the appeals filed against the rule, which had been suspended by a judge, were being processed. The conservative magistrates decided that while the appeals were resolved, the law should be applied. The three progressive judges voted against the decision.
In the case of the Tennessee law now admitted, the lower courts had suspended its application, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, allowed it to continue to be applied. The same thing happened with another similar law passed in Kentucky.
In his appeal, To try to demonstrate the violation of the principle of equality due to the prohibition of treatments, the legal services of the Biden Government emphasize that “the law leaves the same treatments completely unrestricted if they are prescribed for any other purpose.” “So, for example, an adolescent whose sex assigned at birth is male can be prescribed testosterone to conform to a male gender identity, but an adolescent assigned female at birth cannot be prescribed testosterone to conform to a male gender identity.” female gender,” he adds.
Widespread bans
“This Court’s intervention is urgent because Tennessee’s law is part of a wave of similar bans that prevent transgender teens from getting the medical care they, their parents, and their doctors have concluded is necessary,” indicated the appeal, presented last November. “Although such care has been provided to adolescents for decades, in the past three years 18 other states have adopted outright bans like Tennessee’s. “These laws, and conflicting court decisions about their validity, are creating profound uncertainty for transgender teens and their families across the country, and inflicting particularly severe harm in Tennessee and other states where the laws have been allowed to take effect.” , he added.
The enactment of laws to that effect has continued since then. South Carolina last week became the 25th of the 50 states to pass a law restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even though these treatments are supported by major medical associations.
At least 24 states have laws prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s sports competitions, according to an Associated Press tally, which adds that at least 11 states have passed laws prohibiting transgender girls and women from accessing bathrooms. female students in public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.
The Supreme Court has barely ruled on cases related to trans rights. In June 2020, judges ruled that a landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits firings considered discriminatory, for example based on sex, also covers sexual orientation or gender identity and, therefore, protects gays, lesbians and transsexuals.
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