eQuaLproteCtIonInfoCuS : thehIgh-StakeSCaSeof u . S . v . SkrmettI
Diversity , Equity & Inclusion Committee Chairs : KatariBuck – AsiaticoLawLLC & TimMartin – MartinLawOffice , P . A .
theimplicationsinflorida oftheSupremeCourt ’ s decisionwill beimmense . on december 4 , 2024 , the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in United States v . Skrmetti , a case focusing on whether Tennessee ’ s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender teenagers is constitutional . The implications in Florida of the Supreme Court ’ s decision will be immense . 1 In Florida , state law now prohibits the use of puberty blockers to “ stop or delay normal puberty in order to affirm a person ’ s perception of his or her sex , if that perception is inconsistent with the person ’ s [ natal ] sex .” 2 The use of “ hormones or hormone antagonists to affirm a person ’ s
“ a Year and a Half of pain ,” image provided courtesy of lisa Thornton .
perception of his or her sex if that perception is inconsistent with the person ’ s [ natal ] sex ” is prohibited . 3 The rules adopted by the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of osteopathic Medicine also prohibit licensed practitioners from treating “ gender dysphoria in minors ” with “[ p ] uberty blocking , hormone , or hormone antagonist therapies .” 4 If Tennessee ’ s ban is upheld , this would result in affirmance of Florida ’ s ban . 5
The issue before the Court is : “ Whether Tennessee Senate Bill 1 ( SB1 ), which categorically prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow ‘ a minor to identify with , or live as , a purported identity inconsistent with the minor ’ s sex ’ or to treat ‘ purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor ’ s sex and asserted identity ,’ Tenn . Code Ann . § 68-33-103 ( a )( 1 ), violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment .” 6
The Petitioner argues Tennessee law prohibits the covered treatments in explicitly sex-based
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