Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recently criticized her conservative colleagues, saying they lacked "reason and restraint" in allowing Idaho's ban on transgender youth health care during an appeal.
The conservative majority in the Supreme Court gave Idaho officials the go-ahead to enforce a nearly complete ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender youth while the legal process continues. This ban, which a lower court had previously blocked temporarily, is not affecting the two teenage transgender girls whose families are part of the lawsuit against the ban. Justice Neil Gorsuch, in his supporting opinion, argued that the partial stay would not harm the plaintiffs and that blocking the ban could stall Idaho's law for years.
However, Justice Jackson, along with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, dissented. Jackson felt that the court failed to respect lower court judges and that Idaho did not prove that stopping the ban during the appeal would cause "irreversible injury."
Jackson pointed out that Idaho had already admitted that the new law, signed by Republican Governor Brad Little last year, was likely unconstitutional in its application to the plaintiffs. She noted the seriousness of the law, which regulates access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender children, and its significant impact on those affected.
"This ruling is incredibly devastating for transgender people," said transgender activist Erin Reed in response to the decision. Reed expressed disappointment that the ban would go back into effect for everyone except the plaintiffs, calling it devastating for trans youth nationwide.
On the other hand, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador viewed the decision as a victory, emphasizing the law's role in protecting vulnerable children from what he described as dangerous drugs and procedures.
The issue of transgender rights, especially concerning youth access to gender-affirming medical care, has become a contentious topic in the cultural and political landscape. Many bills similar to Idaho's ban have been passed or proposed in Republican-led states across the country.
Despite the controversy, major American medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, endorse gender-affirming care as the most effective treatment for transgender adults and youth. Such care often includes no medical intervention, and when it does, it typically involves the safe and established use of puberty blockers, which are also used for non-transgender children with precocious puberty.
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