Supreme Court appears ready to uphold Tennessee ban on youth transgender care

During almost two-and-a-half hours of debate on Wednesday, nearly all of the court’s conservative majority expressed skepticism about a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender teenagers. Three transgender teens, their families, and a Memphis physician, along with the Biden administration, contend that the law violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and should be examined with the higher degree of legal scrutiny required in such cases. But Tennessee counters that it is simply exercising its power to regulate the practice of medicine for all youth and is not distinguishing based on a patient’s sex.