Overview

• The Supreme Court’s 6–3 ruling on June 17 upheld Tennessee’s ban on hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.
• Justices applied rational basis review, rejecting calls for heightened scrutiny and determining the law regulates medical treatments by age and purpose rather than targeting transgender status.
• LGBTQ advocates and Democrats, including Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, condemned the decision as a partisan denial of medically necessary care for transgender youth.
• Supporters praised the ruling as a reaffirmation of state legislative authority and pointed to polls showing widespread public opposition to early medical interventions for children.
• Republican-led states such as West Virginia and Idaho have urged the court to fast-track their challenges to transgender athlete bans and Medicaid surgery restrictions instead of remanding them to lower courts.