Supreme Court: Reject Bans That Deny Medically Approved Care to Trans Youth

I write to urge the Court to reject state-level bans on gender-affirming care for minors, such as Tennessee’s law currently under review. These laws infringe upon constitutional protections and pose serious risks to the health and well-being of transgender youth. Leading medical authorities—including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association—agree that gender-affirming care like puberty blockers and hormone therapy can be critical for the mental health of transgender adolescents. Access to this care is associated with significantly lower rates of depression and suicidal thoughts. The consequences of denying this care are not theoretical. A peer-reviewed study in Nature Human Behaviour found that transgender youth in states with bans on gender-affirming care were 56% more likely to attempt suicide than those in states without such restrictions (Nature Human Behaviour, October 2023). According to The Trevor Project’s 2024 survey, 41% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, and rates are even higher for transgender and nonbinary youth (The Trevor Project, September 2024). The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids laws that single out individuals based on sex or gender identity. Tennessee’s law permits treatments for cisgender youth while denying the same care to transgender youth. That is discrimination, plain and simple. These decisions belong to families and physicians—not politicians. I respectfully ask this Court to uphold the constitutional rights of families and reject state interference in essential, life-saving medical care.