U.S. Supreme Court to Rule on Trans Meds for Tennessee Minors

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on December 4th in United States v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s ban on the use of pharmaceutical interventions for childhood sex changes. Due to a lower court decision, the state’s ban on sex-change surgeries for minors remains in effect.

The law in question was enacted in 2023 and prohibits healthcare providers from “all treatments intended to allow a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity different than the minor’s sex; or to treat purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.”

Trans-lation: In treating gender dysphoria in minor children, the law forbids all treatments intended to change the child’s sex or ease the discomfort associated with it (with the exception of mental health therapy.) The ban applies to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, the removal of healthy reproductive organs, and attempts to graft mock genitalia from skin found elsewhere on the child’s body. 

Offenders could face civil fines of up to $25,000 per violation, as well as possible sanctions on their licenses.

The petitioners, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that the ban violates sex-based rights protected under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The expected ruling this summer could significantly impact the approach to treating gender dysphoria in minors nationwide. So far, 26 states have enacted laws that limit what gender ideology advocates call “gender-affirming care.” Many of these laws are under legal challenge, with some being completely blocked by federal courts.

Here at home, Arkansas Children’s Hospital offers what it refers to as gender services “in a comfortable and safe environment that is consistent with Arkansas law.” If the phrase “consistent with Arkansas law” prompted a sigh of relief, here is the reality of the situation: Currently, the legal landscape permits the full range of permanent and costly sex-change procedures for patients of all ages, including hormonal treatments and surgical interventions. That’s right, Razorbacks. There are no legal restrictions on performing cross-sex surgeries or prescribing hormones and puberty blockers for minors in Arkansas, though not for lack of trying.

In 2021, Arkansas made history by enacting the first state law banning “gender transition procedures for minors.” Despite overwhelming support from Arkansans and their elected representatives, which led to the override of Governor Hutchinson’s veto, the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act (SAFE Act) was permanently blocked by a U.S. district court in June 2023. Attorney General Tim Griffin’s appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is currently pending.

Last June, an image shared from inside Arkansas Children’s Hospital (shown above) sparked concerns statewide. Parents began questioning the quality of care their kids would receive at a children’s hospital that promotes ideologies focused on sexual preferences. Those concerns were validated further in October by the release of the Stop The Harm Database, a comprehensive list of sex-change medical interventions provided to minors. Do No Harm compiled data using insurance claims filed throughout the country from 2019-2023. The project found that 25 minor patients were prescribed irreversible cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers at Arkansas Children’s Hospital within the five-year time period. For those 25 minors, 186 total prescriptions were written, amounting to nearly $26,000 in submitted charges.

(Do No Harm primarily focused on insurance claims data from commercial insurance providers, Medicaid, Medicare, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The statistics above do not include internal claims from Kaiser Permanente or the Department of Veterans Affairs. Payments made directly, or out-of-pocket, by patients or their families were also not captured by the database.)

The disturbing statistics show how deeply the cancer of gender ideology has infiltrated the medical industry, underscoring the urgent need for a final deliberation by the U.S. Supreme Court. Healthcare providers at every level capitalize on “affirming” the delusions of mentally ill patients, while a new class of malpractice victims emerges among America’s youth, who should be our most protected population.

As it pertains to the madness of this twisted ideology, this article merely grazes the surface. Upcoming pieces will explore the devastating impacts on patients, families, the battle for parents’ rights, and the entire healthcare system.

 Learn more about the SAFE Act: Download

C. Crumpton

Christian homeschool mom of 3,

amateur duck keeper