Sotomayor warns Skrmetti decision will cause 'untold harm' to transgender children in scathing dissent

Justice Sonia Sotomayor read her dissent from the bench, criticizing the majority for deciding to uphold a Tennessee law banning certain medical care for minors who identify as transgender.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor look on prior to then-President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 7, 2024. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

"The Court’s willingness to do so here does irrevocable damage to the Equal Protection Clause and invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight," Sotomayor said. "It also authorizes, without second thought, untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them."

The case, which was one of the most closely watched of the high court's term, arose from the Biden administration suing over a bill Tennessee passed in 2023 to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy as treatments for minors who identify as transgender.

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Demonstrators protest in support of rights for transgender youths. (Fox News )

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"The majority subjects a law that plainly discriminates on the basis of sex to mere rational-basis review," Sotomayor wrote. "By retreating from meaningful judicial review exactly where it matters most, the Court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims. In sadness, I dissent."

The Supreme Court's decision effectively allows states who pass laws like Tennessee's to ban certain medical treatments for minors.

Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sotomayor-warns-skrmetti-decision-cause-untold-harm-transgender-children-scathing-dissent