In a monumental win for children, families, and common sense nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Skrmetti to uphold Tennessee’s ban on dangerous gender transition procedures for minors. Illinois Family Institute (IFI) praises God for this landmark decision that protects vulnerable children from irreversible medical procedures.
This decision affirms that states have the constitutional authority to protect children from irreversible procedures that they cannot fully comprehend or appreciate. The Court correctly ruled that Tennessee’s law prohibiting puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors does not violate the Equal Protection Clause.
Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized that these matters should be determined by “the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process” rather than by courts. This decision respects the rights of states to protect minors and upholds parents’ fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing.
Additionally, Justice Clarence Thomas noted in a solo concurring opinion: “This case carries a simple lesson: In politically contentious debates over matters shrouded in scientific uncertainty, courts should not assume that self-described experts are correct.”
There are several problems with appealing and deferring to the authority of the expert class. First, so-called experts have no license to countermand the “wisdom, fairness, or logic of legislative choices.” FCC v. Beach Communications, Inc., 508 U. S. 307, 313 (1993).
Second, contrary to the representations of the United States and the private plaintiffs, there is no medical consensus on how best to treat gender dysphoria in children.
Third, notwithstanding the alleged experts’ view that young children can provide informed consent to irreversible sex-transition treatments, whether such consent is possible is a question of medical ethics that States must decide for themselves.
Fourth, there are particularly good reasons to question the expert class here, as recent revelations suggest that leading voices in this area have relied on questionable evidence, and have allowed ideology to influence their medical guidance.
Justice Thomas argued that “many prominent medical professionals” have stated there is a consensus surrounding how to “treat” child gender dysphoria, yet there is “mounting evidence to the contrary.” He continued, maintaining that these so-called “experts” have dismissed “grave problems,” undercutting the assumption that young children can consent to “irreversible treatments.”
They have built their medical determinations on concededly weak evidence. And, they have surreptitiously compromised their medical recommendations to achieve political ends.
The Court today reserves “to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process” the power to decide how best to address an area of medical uncertainty and extraordinary importance… That sovereign prerogative does not bow to “major medical organizations.”
Justice Thomas closes his opinion by repeating the truth that he has expressed before, saying: “[E]xperts and elites have been wrong before—and they may prove to be wrong again.”
We are grateful for the clarity of his judicial thinking.
The transgender movement has aggressively pushed hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgeries on children who are uncomfortable with their sex, often dismissing parental consent and long-term consequences. This ruling pushes back against that agenda, placing the well-being of children above radical ideology.
IFI, along with several allied family policy organizations, previously joined an amicus brief supporting Tennessee’s protections for children against life-altering gender “transition” interventions that physically mutilate and disfigure their healthy bodies.
IFI will continue advocating for policies that protect children, affirm parental rights, and uphold truth in biology. We will continue to hold the civil magistrates accountable for protecting our civil rights, whose origin and ultimate authority is not them, but our Creator.
We applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for standing firm in defense of our nation’s youth and adding a layer of protection between our children and the unhinged transgender agenda. As IFI Senior Counsel James Odom points out:
“The 2/3 majority of justices in this decision is the closest we’ve had in many years to honoring their oaths and duties and rightly securing our God-given liberties under the law. Praise be to Christ, our only King! Not so with the 3 dissenters.”
We are also grateful to the members of the Illinois General Assembly who continue to take principled, common-sense stands to protect children from the cruelty of transgender ideology. Illinois and 23 other states (and the District of Columbia) still allow abusive gender reassignment treatments for minors.
Every child, in every state, deserves to be kept safe from these dangerous procedures.
