This article was originally published by Them.
On October 7, the Supreme Court kicked off its annual nine-month term. The nation’s highest court is set to review cases that concern controversial age verification laws, the legality of ghost guns, and, perhaps most high-profile of all in our current political climate, the constitutionality of gender-affirming care bans in the case of U.S. v. Skrmetti. As The Daily Beast reported, progressive advocates have been bracing for increasingly right-wing decisions from SCOTUS, a trend which seemed to be affirmed by the court’s Monday decision to let stand a ban on emergency abortions in Texas.
SCOTUS’ review of U.S. v. Skrmetti arrives at a critical time for transgender rights in the U.S. According to the Movement Advancement Project, 24 states have passed laws that ban all forms of gender-affirming care for trans youth. Additionally, six of those states have classified the provision of that care as a felony. Meanwhile, with less than a month to go before the general election, former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump continues to platform anti-trans conspiracy theories, with his campaign promising a federal ban on gender-affirming care for minors, among other anti-trans policy proposals.
Read on for everything you need to know about the U.S. vs. Skrmetti, the court case that could determine the future of trans rights in America.
U.S. vs. Skrmetti began as L.W. v. Skrmetti, a lawsuit against Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, Senate Bill 1. Gov. Bill Lee signed SB 1 into law in March 2023. The law prohibits medical professionals from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers or performing any gender-affirming care procedures on minors. It also gives minors and their parents the ability to sue gender-affirming care providers if they claim to have suffered “harm” related to that treatment, and gives the state’s attorney general the power to fine providers $25,000 per violation of the law. Additionally, the law forced trans youth who are currently receiving care to end that care by March 31, 2024.
In April 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer sued the state of Tennessee and the state’s attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, to block SB 1 from going into effect. The complaint, filed on behalf of three families of trans youth and one medical doctor, argued that SB 1 is unconstitutional and that it violates Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which provides nondiscrimination protections for people who receive care from federally funded healthcare providers. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also joined the lawsuit shortly after it was filed.
A federal judge in Tennessee issued a decision that would have temporarily blocked SB 1 on June 29, 2023. But the state of Tennessee immediately filed an appeal, which was successful. On July 8, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a decision repealing the preliminary injunction that was blocking SB 1, allowing the law to go into effect. This also marked the first time that a federal court ruled that a ban on gender-affirming care might be constitutional, according to The New York Times.
In November 2023, the legal organizations representing the plaintiffs asked the Supreme Court to review L.W. vs. Skrmetti, as did the DOJ. The Court agreed to take up the case on June 24 this year. Because the Court only granted review of the DOJ’s petition, the case is now called U.S. v. Skrmetti. The case will specifically focus on whether Tennessee’s SB 1 violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Strangio told Them via email that the case would determine whether states have the ability to ban gender-affirming care.
If the Court rules in favor of Tennessee, Strangio said that that “won’'t materially change the map much at the moment since 24 states ban care and that represents the states that legislatively have the majorities to do so.” He compared the situation to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the 2022 Supreme Court case that nullified Roe v. Wade, stripping away the constitutional right to abortion, leaving the legality of abortion to the states. “It would be similar to Dobbs in this sense — you can ban abortion but you don’'t have to,” he said.
But Strangio also added that “a bad decision would make it much easier for a Trump administration to ban the care federally, which they will try to do.”
When is the Supreme Court expected to hear U.S. v. Skrmetti?
The Supreme Court will likely hear arguments for the case during the first two weeks of December. According to Supreme Court procedure, arguments are heard from October through December, during the first two weeks of each month. Because U.S. v. Skrmetti was not on the October and November calendars released on October 7, , it appears that oral arguments will take place in December.
The online legal publication SCOTUSblog reported that a decision will likely be made “by late June or early July 2025.” According to Supreme Court procedure, arguments are heard during the first two weeks of each month from October through December.
What are LGBTQ+ advocates saying about the case?
During a preview of the Supreme Court term, Strangio said that the case represents an “inflection moment” for the future of trans civil rights, according to CBS News. “The resolution of this case is critical for access to this health care across the country,” he said, per the outlet’s reporting.
Additionally, on September 4, trans advocacy group Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of over 60 trans adults, including Miss Major, Elliot Page, Cat Runner, Lilly Wachowski, and more. In the brief, the group testified to the “lifesaving” power of gender-affirming care, urging the Supreme Court to block SB 1 and other laws like it. In a press release, Sydney Duncan, senior counsel at A4TE, said that the people in the brief “are living proof that gender-affirming healthcare matters, that it is good, and that it is right.” The brief states that for the people listed, “receiving this medical care both alleviated pain and allowed them to discover their joys in life,” and asked the court “to consider their stories before rendering its decision” on SB1.
Many of the people who signed onto that brief were also present at the inaugural Gender Liberation March in Washington D.C., which similarly sought to draw attention to U.S. v. Skrmetti. A press release on the march’s website said that the case might not only affect trans youth, but could also “have severe ramifications” for “trans adults’ access to life-saving care and protections in housing, employment, education, and more.” The Gender Liberation Movement plans to return to D.C. during the hearing in December.
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