American Bar Association files brief supporting legal challenge to Tennessee's transgender health care ban
The American Bar Association has filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors.“Equal protection forbids differential treatment in the exercise of important constitutional rights absent the strongest justification, and Tennessee’s [Senate Bill 1] cannot withstand scrutiny under that standard,” says the ABA brief, filed Tuesday. It adds, “The ABA has recognized in its past policy statements, state policy denying any individual access to needed medical care for reasons wholly unrelated to any medical justification — as SB1 does — is inimical to equality and equal dignity before the law.”“The right of patients to access treatment without arbitrary governmental interference is grounded in the common-law right of bodily integrity and self-determination, as well as liberty interests protected by the Fourteenth Amendment,” the brief continues, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s prior decisions.Friend-of-the-court briefs, known in legal jargon as amicus curiae briefs, are filed by people or organizations not directly involved in a case but with an interest in its outcome.Senate Bill 1, signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee in March 2023, bans surgery, puberty blockers, and hormone treatment for the purpose of gender transition for people under 18. It is being challenged by families with transgender children, health care providers, and the U.S. Department of Justice.Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the federal government, asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, and in June, the court agreed to do so. The justices will hold a hearing in their new term, which begins October 7.The case is known as U.S. v. Skrmetti, Jonathan Skrmetti being the attorney general of Tennessee, which is one of 26 Republican-controlled states that have banned or restricted gender-affirming care for trans minors. The Tennessee ban has been upheld by a federal appeals court.“In its brief, the ABA outlines its lengthy record of supporting LGBTQ rights, first urging the repeal of laws criminalizing private sexual relations between consenting adults more than a half century ago,” says a press release from the organization. “Most recently in August, the ABA House of Delegates adopted policy urging legal protection of access to gender-affirming care.”The ABA is the world’s largest voluntary association of lawyers.
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