POLITICS: Supreme Court DIVIDED — Trans Youth Rights Hit Hard – USSA News

Supreme Court finally allows states to protect children from irreversible “gender-affirming” procedures, and the Left is melting down faster than an ice cream cone in July.

In a landmark 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical treatments for minors suffering from gender dysphoria. The ruling, issued in United States v. Skrmetti, establishes that states have the constitutional authority to prohibit certain medical interventions for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapies. Chief Justice Roberts led the majority opinion, determining that Tennessee’s law doesn’t discriminate based on sex and is subject only to rational basis review. Meanwhile, Justice Sotomayor’s fiery dissent claimed the law specifically targets transgender youth, setting up a judicial battleground over state rights versus what progressives call necessary healthcare.

States Regain Power to Protect Children from Experimental Procedures

Well, would you look at that? The Supreme Court has finally remembered that we have this little thing called federalism in America. In a refreshing display of constitutional clarity, the high court ruled 6-3 to uphold Tennessee’s law protecting minors from irreversible medical procedures pushed by the gender ideology movement. The decision acknowledges what any parent with common sense already knows: states have a legitimate interest in protecting children from potentially harmful medical treatments, especially ones with permanent consequences that they’re far too young to fully comprehend.

Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, cut through the progressive smoke screen by pointing out that Tennessee’s law doesn’t discriminate based on sex – it applies equally to all minors regardless of whether they identify as boys, girls, or something else from the ever-expanding gender vocabulary. The law simply prohibits certain medical treatments for all minors, period. That means it only needed to pass rational basis review, the lowest level of scrutiny – which it did, because protecting children from potentially harmful medical decisions is about as rational as it gets.

The Left’s Predictable Meltdown Over “Healthcare Denial”

Right on cue, the usual suspects are having a complete meltdown. Justice Sotomayor, leading the liberal dissenters, argued that Tennessee’s law is actually discriminating based on sex because it conditions medication availability on a patient’s biological sex. According to this logic, apparently protecting children from potentially harmful and irreversible procedures is somehow equal to discrimination. Imagine that – protecting kids from life-altering decisions they’re not mature enough to make is now considered hateful. What a time to be alive!

The ACLU’s Chase Strangio, predictably, called the ruling a “devastating loss” while promising to continue fighting for what they call transgender rights. Let’s be crystal clear about what’s happening here: progressives are upset because they can no longer push experimental treatments on confused children without parental or state intervention. They’ve somehow convinced themselves that blocking puberty – a natural, essential developmental process – and administering cross-sex hormones to minors is “healthcare” rather than ideological experimentation on kids.

The Bigger Constitutional Picture

What’s particularly satisfying about this ruling is how it reinforces the proper constitutional order. The Constitution doesn’t grant the federal government or courts the power to dictate medical policy to the states. That’s why we have fifty different laboratories of democracy – so states can determine policies that best protect their citizens. Tennessee lawmakers, elected by the people, determined that certain treatments for gender dysphoria posed unacceptable risks to minors. And now, the Supreme Court has confirmed they have every right to make that determination.

Justice Barrett, joined by Justice Thomas, hit the nail on the head in her concurrence by arguing that transgender individuals should not be considered a “suspect class” requiring heightened scrutiny. This is crucial because it prevents activist judges from using the 14th Amendment as a blank check to override democratically enacted laws they personally disagree with. The Constitution was never intended to be a weapon for imposing progressive ideology on states that reject it.

Common Sense Makes a Comeback

This ruling affects a significant number of young Americans, as an estimated 40% of transgender youth aged 13-17 live in states with similar bans or restrictions. That’s a lot of children who will now be protected from making permanent, life-altering medical decisions before they’re old enough to vote, buy alcohol, or even get a tattoo without parental consent. The idea that we would allow children to make decisions that could leave them sterile or with permanent physical changes before their brains are fully developed has always defied basic common sense.

What’s truly remarkable is how quickly the Left abandoned their long-standing principle of “first, do no harm” when it comes to children and medical ethics. For generations, medical professionals understood that caution was especially warranted when treating minors. But somehow, when it comes to gender ideology, all that caution gets thrown out the window in favor of “affirming” whatever a confused teenager says they want, consequences be damned. Thank goodness at least six Supreme Court justices still understand the proper role of government in protecting its most vulnerable citizens.

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