US Supreme Court to weigh landmark case on gender-affirming healthcare amid nationwide restrictions

On Monday (June 24), the Biden administration's plea for the repeal of state prohibitions on gender-affirming healthcare was taken up by the Supreme Court.

The top court's decision to hear the plea comes as Republican-led states have imposed multiple restrictions on transgender people's access to health care, participation in school athletics, restroom use, and drag performances.

The next term of the court, which begins in October and ends in June 2025, is likely to include oral arguments and verdict.

The case is the first in which the conservative-majority court, which has a 6-3 majority, will rule on a case involving teen transgender rights, which has been a contentious subject in both the healthcare and education sectors.

New federal regulations aimed at safeguarding transgender students are among the many safeguards for transgender individuals that the administration and Democratic-led states have expanded.

The Tennessee law that limits puberty blockers and hormone treatment for transgender kids is the subject of the case before the court. After being blocked by lower courts, laws in Tennessee and Kentucky were finally permitted to go into force by the federal appeals court in Cincinnati.

Counsel for the transgender teenagers in Tennessee told the judges, "Without this Court's prompt intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, uncertain of whether and where they can access needed medical care."

The Oscar-nominated actor Elliot Page, who starred in films like "Juno," "Inception," and "The Umbrella Academy," is one among the 57 transgender individuals who have signed a legal filing endorsing a Supreme Court review.

Even though these therapies have been accessible in the US for more than ten years and are supported by significant medical associations, South Carolina became the 25th state last month to pass legislation limiting or outlawing gender-affirming medical therapy for younger transgender patients.

Previously, when lower courts had blocked the state limitations on such therapies, the justices had authorised Idaho to impose them widely.

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There are laws in at least 24 states that prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in specific sports for women or girls. At least 11 states have passed legislation prohibiting transgender women and girls from using the women's and girls' restrooms in public schools, as well as in some other types of government buildings.

"The future of countless transgender youth in this and future generations rests on this court adhering to the facts, the Constitution and its modern precedent,” Chase Strangio, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC news.

(With inputs from agencies)