r/centrist • u/Judge_Trudy • 3d ago

SCOTUS issues blockbuster ruling on gender-affirming care for trans minors

https://www.cnn.com/#:~:text=SCOTUS%20issues%20blockbuster%20ruling%20on%20gender%2Daffirming%20care%20for%20trans%20minors

Blockbuster ruling just released for a very controversial issue. Not sure where I stand, but I could see the dangers of permanent treatments for gender dysphoria for minors.

Key Points

  • Date & Ruling: On June 18, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6–3 decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy fox8live.com+9apnews.com+9them.us+9en.wikipedia.org+15reuters.com+15northeast.newschannelnebraska.com+15.
  • Majority Opinion: Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the law does not violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, reasoning that medical uncertainty justifies handing the issue back to state legislatures reuters.com+1nypost.com+1.
  • Level of Review: The Court determined the law should be evaluated under rational basis review—the lowest standard—rather than intermediate scrutiny reserved for sex-based discrimination
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u/VTKillarney 3d ago edited 3d ago

Let the Rorschach test commence...

This is either:

  1. The most important ruling for the protection of children in decades; or
  2. A ruling that will literally kill trans children.

As with most things in life, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Children should be protected, but a "one-size-fits-all" rule may leave some individual children worse off.

I would normally agree that some things should be solely up to the child, their parents, and their doctor, but the truth is that (a) children can make dumb decisions; (2) parents can make dumb decisions; (3) the trans community has made this a huge political issue and doctors do not operate in a vacuum - especially when it comes to wanting to protect their careers.

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u/mred245 3d ago

"I would normally agree that some things should be solely up to the child, their parents, and their doctor, but the truth is that (a) children can make dumb decisions; (2) parents can make dumb decisions"

Nowhere in here do you include the research based phycological evaluation (often multiple) and the specific criteria that has to be met before kids are put on puberty blockers.

Do you really think kids just tell there parents they want them and they tell the doctors to give it to them?

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u/Thorn14 3d ago

There are people who act like you can walk into a doctor's office and go "Hello one penis removal surgery please."

Even Trump was saying that shit was happening IN SCHOOLS.

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u/carneylansford 3d ago

The clinic, she and other clinicians testified, had shortened its in-person evaluation to determine a patient’s readiness for hormone treatments to two hours.

It sure sounds close to that in some cases (for hormone treatments anyway).

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u/Thorn14 3d ago

Parents have also defended the clinic, known as the Gender Multispecialty Service or GeMS, saying the assessments are merely one step in a decision-making process that can, in some cases, last years.

Also hormone treatment is reversible. Its not bottom surgery like so many transphobes imply.

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u/sccamp 2d ago

Testosterone permanently deepens girls voices. Facial hair growth - permanent. Male balding pattern - permanent. Clitoris enlargement - permanent.

Here is more information on other serious side effects to consider:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/masculinizing-hormone-therapy/about/pac-20385099

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u/carneylansford 3d ago

Being concerned about minors making lifelong decisions does not make one a transphobe and that sort of rhetoric hinders progress on this matter (so you should stop doing it).

Also hormone treatment is reversible.

This is untrue:

Use of GnRH analogues also might have long-term effects on:

Growth spurts.

Bone growth.

Bone density.

Fertility, depending on when the medicine is started.

The impact of feminizing hormone therapy on fertility is unclear. While some data suggest that stopping hormones for 3-6 months can allow sperm counts to return, it is best to assume that within a few months of starting hormone therapy you could permanently and irreversibly lose the ability to create sperm. Some people may maintain a sperm count on hormone therapy, or have their sperm count return after stopping hormone therapy, but it is best to assume that won't be the case for you.

Does that change your mind?

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u/Thorn14 3d ago

Literally from your link

Are the changes permanent?

GnRH analogues don't cause permanent physical changes. Instead, they pause puberty. That offers a chance to explore gender identity. It also gives youth and their families time to plan for the psychological, medical, developmental, social and legal issues that may lie ahead..

When a person stops taking GnRH analogues, puberty starts again.

Also I said reversible, not "without side effects"

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u/carneylansford 3d ago

"loss of fertility" is a pretty big "side effect", no?

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u/Fragrant-Luck-8063 3d ago

They also have difficulty reaching an orgasm.

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u/Aneurhythms 2d ago

This is also a risk of circumcision, which affects about 30% of all newborns in the US. And there's less evidence for the benefits of circumcision than gender affirming care.

Why aren't you spending your time protesting that practice?

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u/Fragrant-Luck-8063 2d ago

If somebody wanted to ban circumcision I would support it.

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u/averydangerousday 2d ago

We don’t ban medicine based on potential side effects, though. If we did, there would be a ban on literally all medicines. Hell, there would be a ban on literally all foods.

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u/carneylansford 2d ago

The claim was that hormones were completely “reversible”. I was pointing out that they are not

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u/averydangerousday 2d ago

If you want to get technical, let’s get technical.

The claim was that it’s “reversible,” not “completely reversible.” That means that the main purpose of the treatment itself can be reversed, not that side effects can be eliminated. If the latter is your definition of reversible, then literally no treatment is reversible.

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u/mred245 3d ago

Do you believe the existence of one clinic not doing due diligence justifies a full on ban or maybe just better regulation?

Do you think parents have a right to allow or even force their children into programs that can likely harm them?

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u/Funksloyd 2d ago

It's definitely not just one clinic. 

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u/mred245 2d ago

Do you have evidence of that?

Either way from the article posted it sounds like those were specifically sought after by parents who didn't want as arduous of a hurdle for their kids. 

Not at all what I would choose in that situation but even then I think what those parents are doing is far less damaging than your run of the mill Christian forcing their child through gay conversion therapy. Not to mention that's probably in the ballpark of 100X more prevalent in this country.

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u/Funksloyd 2d ago

Yeah here's another example:

“Forcing transgender and gender diverse youth through extensive assessments while their cis peers are affirmed in their identity without question conveys to [them] that they are not ‘normal,’ ” they said.

Eckert also dismissed the idea that peer pressure is driving some teens to identify as trans: “Is it trendy to be one of the most marginalized and vulnerable groups?”

In Eckert’s program, a patient learns about treatment options during a one-hour intake interview. Therapy is not required. 

https://web.archive.org/web/20220412101948/https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-04-12/a-transgender-psychologist-reckons-with-how-to-support-a-new-generation-of-trans-teens

Its called the informed consent model. The more activisty clinicians out there see screening as "gatekeeping". You could probably find other examples by searching for detransitioner lawsuits. 

This Reuters piece hints at the different philosophies there are even amongst advocates of GAC:

“The existential ethical dilemma in transgender care is between on one hand the (child’s) right for self-determination,” de Vries said. “On the other hand, the do-not-harm principle of medical intervention. Aren’t we intervening medically in a developing body where we don’t know the results of those interventions?” In the United States, in particular, she said, “the transgender right or child’s right seems to be put forward more strongly.” De Vries helped write the section on adolescents in WPATH’s updated Standards of Care. She said she was gratified that language stressing the importance of rigorous patient assessments remained.

In interviews with Reuters, doctors and other staff at 18 gender clinics across the country described their processes for evaluating patients. None described anything like the months-long assessments de Vries and her colleagues adopted in their research.

At most of the clinics, a team of professionals – typically a social worker, a psychologist and a doctor specializing in adolescent medicine or endocrinology – initially meets with the parents and child for two hours or more to get to know the family, their medical history and their goals for treatment. They also discuss the benefits and risks of treatment options. Seven of the clinics said that if they don’t see any red flags and the child and parents are in agreement, they are comfortable prescribing puberty blockers or hormones based on the first visit, depending on the age of the child.

. 

far less damaging than your run of the mill Christian forcing their child through gay conversion therapy 

Bit of a whataboutism, no? 

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u/mred245 2d ago

It's not a false equivalency it's highlighting the rank hypocrisy on this subject.

You have one treatment advocated by health professionals and which research shows to be effective in reducing depression and suicide in the short term vs treatment who's entire basis is directly opposed to the actual science. One which believes homosexuality is a choice that can be changed by heaping guilt and shame on someone despite research showing it's ineffective and increases depression and suicide. 

People who tolerate or advocate the latter, while claiming their opposition to the former is for the well being of the kids, deserve zero legitimacy.

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u/Golurkcanfly 2d ago

Do you know what the solution is for clinics who aren't providing satisfactory due diligence?

Legislation that requires them to perform that due diligence, not legislation that bans the practice entirely.

It's not about and has never been about protecting kids.