The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on transgender surgeries for minors in a 6–3 decision, concluding that such policies are best decided by the states.
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion alongside his five fellow conservative justices, which held that Tennessee’s law doesn’t violate the Equal Protection Clause. The three liberal justices dissented.
“This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field,” Roberts reflected in the majority opinion.
“Our role … is only to ensure that it does not violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment,” he went on. “Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process.”
