SCOTUS Upholds Tennessee Ban on Transgender Procedures for Minors

By Greg Pruett • June 18, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a 6–3 decision upholding Tennessee’s law that bans certain medical procedures for transgender minors.

What’s Happening: Several states, including Idaho, have passed laws prohibiting minors from accessing treatments such as hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and surgeries — procedures that can lead to permanent physical changes. Idaho’s law had been on hold, awaiting clarity from the Supreme Court as legal challenges progressed across the country.

Tennessee’s law specifically bans the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical interventions for minors seeking gender transition.

Digging Deeper: Chloe Cole, a well-known detransitioner, recently featured in an Idaho Dispatch interview, praised the ruling on X:

“WE DID IT!

Moments ago the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s child-protection law in Skrmetti, 6 to 3. My heart is overflowing with gratitude. Every child in America is now safer. Thank you to The State of Tennessee, the parents who never backed down, and every detransitioner who shared the truth. This victory is ours!”

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Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor disagreed with the Court’s majority, saying in her dissent, in part,

“Tennessee’s ban applies no matter what the minor’s parents and doctors think, with no regard for the severity of the minor’s mental health conditions or the extent to which treatment is medically necessary for an individual child.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to have sweeping effects — not only reinforcing bans in states like Idaho, but also influencing legal debates in states that currently permit such treatments.