WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court today released a 6-3 ruling in United States v. Skrmetti, holding that Tennessee’s law protecting minors from surgical mutilation and dangerous drugs intended to implement gender transitions is not a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and satisfies rational basis review. 

Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, made the following statement: 

“We are fortunate not only that justices on the Supreme Court recognized the right of states to protect their children from hazardous medical procedures, but that the Trump administration reversed the shameful legal posture previously presented in the case by the Biden administration that challenged the state’s right to protect its minor citizens from such perilous and dangerous malpractice by physicians.” 

Thomas Jipping, senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, added:  

“The American people and their elected representatives, not unelected judges, have the authority to tackle issues like these. Tennessee is making sure that the current fad of gender ideology does not permanently harm children. Because the Constitution does not decide that issue for them, the Supreme Court properly chose to leave it to them.”