Judge Sonia Sotomayor compared it compared the side effects of transgender medical procedures on minors to those of taking an over-the-counter painkiller during Wednesday’s oral arguments in the case of USA v. Skrmetti.
“Any medical treatment carries risks, even taking aspirin,” Sotomayor said. ‘There will always be a percentage of the population below a certain percentage medical treatment that will suffer damage. So the question that comes to mind is not: Do policymakers decide whether one person’s life is more valuable than the millions of others who get relief from this treatment?’
SUPREME COURT WEIGHS STATE BAN ON TRANSGENDER ‘MEDICAL TREATMENT’ FOR MINORS
Supporters of a Tennessee law gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments in a case involving transgender transition procedures for minors on December 4, 2024 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Sotomayor’s comments came after Tennessee Attorney General Matthew Rice defended his state’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors. This is the first time a case involving transgender proceedings has been brought before the Supreme Court. Rice argued that countries such as Sweden, Finland and the United Kingdom have limited such interventions due to reported irreversible consequences.
Judge Clarence Thomas questioned Rice about alternative approaches — such as in the case of West Virginia — with Rice dismissing them as speculative policymaking that fails to fully eliminate risks associated with gender transition.
Members of the United States Supreme Court, front from left, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan, and back from left, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson pose for their official portrait at the Supreme Court Building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“They can’t eliminate the risk of detransitioners,” Rice said. “So it becomes a pure exercise of weighing benefits versus risks. And the question of how many minors have to irreparably damage their bodies because of unproven benefits is best left to the legislature.”
The high-profile case, United States v. Skrmetti, revolves around a law from Tennessee which bans gender transition treatments for adolescents in the state. The law also targets health care providers in Tennessee who continue to offer gender transition treatments to transgender minors, leaving them open to fines, lawsuits and other liabilities.
The three judges appointed by former President Trump can play a key role in the outcome. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett asked both sides tough questions, while Justice Neil Gorsuch remained silent during the lengthy hearing. A ruling is expected in July 2025.
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A trans flag and the Supreme Court building (Alexander Pohl/NurPhoto via Getty Images | AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The petitioners in the case are the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed a lawsuit on behalf of the parents of three transgender adolescents to overturn the Tennessee law, and a Memphis-based doctor who treats transgender patients. The petitioners were also joined by the Biden administration earlier this year under a federal law that allows the government to intervene in certain cases certified by the attorney general as being of “general public interest.”
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Tennessee passed his law, Senate Bill 1in March 2023. But it is only one of at least 25 US states that have banned gender transitions for transgender minors, while more than 15 have passed “shield laws” protecting such procedures.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
