J. Pharoah Doss: The Supreme Court, gender-affirming care, and weighing the risk

Anti-trans legislation adjudicates the bodily autonomy of those who do not conform to gender norms.& Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo Three transgender teenagers and their families have challenged Tennessee’s 2023 restriction on gender-affirming care for minors. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the first week of December. The World Health Organization defines gender-affirming care as a set of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions that help people affirm their gender identity. Tennessee law specifically prohibits doctors from administering puberty blockers and hormone therapy to minors seeking treatment for gender dysphoria. According to the American Psychiatric Association, gender dysphoria is the psychological distress caused by an incongruence between one’s assigned sex at birth and one’s gender identity. Gender dysphoria usually develops in childhood; however, some people may not experience it until after puberty or much later. The families contesting Tennessee’s ban argue that it violates the 14th amendment’s concept of equal protection under the law by treating transgender boys and girls differently from other boys and girls, resulting in discrimination. The families also think that the state violates a parent’s right to make medical decisions for their child and that the state harms children by denying them necessary medical care. One...