The high court's decision followed a Sixth Circuit ruling in favor of Tennessee’s and Kentucky’s laws prohibiting such procedures. The 6-3 ruling further strengthens Kentucky's Senate Bill 150 — a 2023 bill that barred gender transition treatments for minors. Chris Hartman with the Fairness Campaign, a strong opponent of the decision.
"While today's ruling doesn't stop transgender health care for kids in more than two dozen states and territories in the US, it does uphold the unconscionable ban on this care in states like Kentucky and Tennessee," Hartman said.
Kentucky's Family Foundation, which filed a brief in favor of the law, described the ruling as an "historic victory in protecting children."
"States like Kentucky were clearly vindicated in the action that they took, and I hope we continue to see momentum to protect kids from these harmful radical gender ideologies," the group's executive director, David Walls, told WUKY.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the laws barring the treatments do not violate the Constitution's protection claim, which requires the government to treat similarly situated people the same.
Writing for the minority, Justice Sotomayor said the ruling "abandons transgender children and their families for political whims."