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Since 2021, 26 states have implemented limitations on gender-transition treatments for minors. Transgender minors, along with their parents, guardians, and healthcare providers, have contested these bans in 18 states, leading to varying outcomes.
List of states that have laws prohibiting minors from receiving gender-affirming care, based on research by the New York Times and Movement Advancement Project. It is important to note that Georgia’s ban does not cover puberty blockers, and Idaho’s ban is temporarily halted for two individuals.
Written by Amy Harmon
This week, the Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to a Tennessee law that originated in the spring of 2021. Arkansas was the first state to pass a law prohibiting gender-transition treatments for minors, followed by Alabama in 2022. Tennessee was part of a larger trend among 28 states where Republicans control the legislature, with 24 now restricting doctors from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapies, or surgery to transgender minors. New Hampshire and Arizona have also banned surgeries for transgender minors.
The reason for the ban on transgender youth in Florida was investigated by federal district judge Robert Hinkle, who found that some lawmakers were motivated by discriminatory attitudes. Republican lawmakers in various states claim they are trying to protect young people from making decisions they may not fully understand. Republican strategists believe that focusing on this issue will help them win the 2024 election.
The case of United States v. Skrmetti challenges Tennessee’s ban on a certain issue, which is one of 18 similar cases that have been filed in the past three years. The highest courts in Texas and Nebraska have upheld their bans, while federal district judges in Florida and Arkansas have struck down bans in those states. Appeals are being made against these decisions, and preliminary injunctions on bans in Alabama and Indiana have been reversed by separate appeals courts. There are eleven other cases currently in different stages of legal proceedings.
The decision made by the Supreme Court in the Skrmetti case will likely impact how lower courts address challenges to similar laws in various states. However, the result may not apply uniformly everywhere.
Jim Campbell, the chief counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group supporting Idaho’s ban on transition treatments for minors, stated that if Tennessee wins, people will claim that "Skrmetti controls," and vice versa. The losing side will argue that it’s actually different and provide reasons why.
In her work, Amy Harmon discusses how changing beliefs about gender impact daily life in America. Learn more about Amy Harmon.
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