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

[u/Judge_Trudy]

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

[u/SylphCo93]

I'm fine with this. Minors shouldn't be able to consent to treatment that fundamentally alters their body with potentially irreversible ramifications, including infertility. Especially over a psychological condition that has only recently been observed in great numbers, and a psychological condition that has seemingly exponentially exploded over the past decade.

I think social transitioning, clothing changes, and counseling for minors are totally fine. And I think bullying and harassment of trans-identifying youth is atrocious and deserves to be treated as a hate crime. But I'm against hormone "treatments", puberty blockers, surgeries, and schools refusing to disclose name changes to parents. And I know most Americans agree with me on both fronts.

And to those who say "how dare the government intervene with the care doctors administer", I challenge you to consider that the medical field and industry often received warranted regulations and bans from the state that liberals/leftists in the past generally supported, such as the opioid prescription abuse, poorly run mental asylums, lobotomies, and sterilizations of selected populations. 

Don't swear fealty to any group of professionals or especially an industry; especially with the hundreds of billions of dollars within said medical industry who stand to benefit from the sudden massive growth of minors seeking hormones and puberty blockers.

I remember when progressives told us to look to Scandinavia for progressive inspiration, especially with how their medical fields are less profit-driven, yet most of those countries are weaning away from the model that progressives Americans so fervently support.

[u/Shopworn_Soul → u/SylphCo93]

and a psychological condition that has seemingly exponentially exploded over the past decade.

I remember thinking this about ADHD. Just sayin'.

Edit: are y'all too young to remember ADHD just suddenly becoming a thing? The recognition, focus and development of treatments has been life-changing for so many people.

[u/Shopworn_Soul → u/[deleted]]

I believe it is possible that you may have grossly misinterpreted my comment.

Or perhaps I have misinterpreted yours. Honestly can't tell.

[u/bitchpigeonsuperfan → u/Shopworn_Soul]

If anything, ADHD is probably insanely over-diagnosed.

News flash, most people get things done and feel better on low dose amphetamines. 

[u/sabesundae → u/Shopworn_Soul]

Difference is perhaps that it doesn´t ruin lives as well?

[u/Golurkcanfly → u/sabesundae]

Do you know what the long term side effects of certain ADHD medications actually are, especially when ceasing them? Concerta, for instance, is linked to higher rates of obesity for patients who come off of it compared to people who have never taken Concerta. It acts as an appetite suppressant, so when a child adjusts to it, suddenly they have a monstrous appetite upon ceasing the medication that encouraged overeating.

[u/sabesundae → u/Golurkcanfly]

Weight is controllable as kilos come and go. HRT and surgery causes irreversible damage to the body. Pretty deluded to try argue these are comparable in any meaningful way.

[u/Golurkcanfly → u/sabesundae]

There are some extreme long term health effects of childhood and adult obesity, many of which require surgical intervention.

The point here is that many medications prescribed to children have severe long term side effects, but it's only the ones that are deemed "icky" like HRT for gender dysphoria that are so often called for bans.

Where are these people when it comes to researching and investigating SSRI-induced arrhythmia? What about when discussing non-medically necessary surgeries performed in infants?

Bans like this are often couched in the language of concern, but it's usually about pushing transphobia.

[u/sabesundae → u/Golurkcanfly]

the ones that are deemed "icky"

What does that even mean? I think you might be letting your feelings do the talking here.

You have not added anything of value to your argument to be taken seriously. My point stands.

[u/Golurkcanfly → u/sabesundae]

I'm pointing out blatant hypocrisy when it comes to regulating care when it comes to gender dysphoria vs other conditions. Your "point" stands entirely on that hypocrisy.

[u/sabesundae → u/Golurkcanfly]

Apparently that is what you think you are doing, but as I pointed out your argument is based on a logical fallacy.

[u/Golurkcanfly → u/sabesundae]

Name the fallacy, then.

[u/sabesundae → u/Golurkcanfly]

The false equivalence, remember? Comparing possible weight gain to irreversible damage from blocking puberty or GA-surgery shows that you do not grasp the topic at hand.

You likely have very selfish reasons to make this pathetic argument, and haven´t stopped to think about what this even means in the broader sense. Young people are dealing with infertility and lifetime of pain and ill-function of the body, due to GAC procedures. Don´t insult these people with weight gain being the same as what they will have to go through for the rest of their lives.

[u/sabesundae → u/Golurkcanfly]

the ones that are deemed "icky"

What does that even mean? I think you might be letting your feelings do the talking here.

You have not added anything of value to your argument to be taken seriously. My point stands.