WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The case, which pits the Biden administration’s Justice Department against the State of Tennessee and its attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, will determine whether states are allowed to outlaw so-called gender transition treatments for minors.
In March 2023, the Tennessee legislature passed a law prohibiting health care providers from prescribing medications or performing procedures on minor patients with a goal of “transitioning” the patient’s gender.
Three transgender individuals, their parents and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit claiming the Tennessee law violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection and Due Process clauses. The U.S. Justice Department joined the suit.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), in conjunction with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, filed an amicus brief siding with Tennessee in the case.
In a podcast hosted by the ERLC on Nov. 28, Matt Sharp, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom and the director of the Center for Public Policy, said Tennessee is well within its rights to protect children with such laws.
“Just think about things like driver’s licenses,” Sharp said. “We don’t let people drive based on their age. Even things like getting a tattoo or using tobacco or alcohol, we’ve always regulated based on age, and that’s what Tennessee is doing here. They’re taking certain substances, certain procedures that they know are harmful and dangerous for kids and saying, we don’t think they ought to be lawful for children in the state of Tennessee.”
Twenty-five other states have passed similar laws, Sharp added.
“We’ve seen since about 2020, 2021, this mass of states as they’re looking at the evidence,” he said, “as they’re hearing the voices of de-transitioners — children that were pushed to receive these drugs and surgeries and the damage it did to them — these lawmakers stood up and they said, we want to protect kids in our state.”
On the same podcast, Kayla Toney, associate counsel with First Liberty Institute, said Tennessee has a lot of support going into Wednesday’s arguments.
“There were 33 amicus briefs filed on the side of the transgender lobby, and there were 50 briefs filed on the side of Tennessee from a very wide group,” Toney said. “… And that matters to courts when they see there’s a broad consensus coming from a lot of different voices that usually disagree about a lot of very important things, but they’re right now, they’re all agreeing that this is an area that needs to be protected. And that’s really significant.”
Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern on Dec. 4. Audio can be streamed at https://www.supremecourt.gov/.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Laura Erlanson is managing editor of Baptist Press.)
