The justices of the Supreme Court repeatedly referred to the science as “evolving” and “uncertain” throughout their discussion of Tennessee’s restriction on gender-affirming care yesterday.Tennessee outlawed the provision of gender-affirming medical care to trans adolescents last year. Why? According to the state, it must ensure that youth do not grow scornful of the terminology used in the law.
Doctors claim that’s not how medicine works.
According to Dr. Carl Streed Jr., who leads the U.S. chapter of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and conducts research at Boston Medical Center’s GenderCare Center, “when we ban care or slow down care, we’re affecting an entire age cohort and putting them at risk for worse mental health,” USA Today reported.
The state’s argument mostly relies on assertions regarding medical ambiguity. However, Dr. Joshua Safer, the director of the transgender medicine division at Mount Sinai in New York, also told USA Today that the treatment of trans kids is already conservative and highly customized. “When we support parents and children, we try to be thoughtful and conservative,” he stated.
In reality, Tennessee’s law prevents physicians from prescribing the same drugs to trans children that they are free to do for other children with different illnesses. The Supreme Court is currently considering this strange conflict.
The receipts
The Court received receipts from major medical groups in the form of amicus filings. The information was provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Research indicates that when provided in accordance with recognized criteria, access to hormone therapy and puberty blockers greatly minimizes mental health crises for trans children who require them.
But things get murky in Tennessee’s situation because it mainly depends on six doctors. Accountable recently conducted an investigation.According to US, four of these experts have been consistently called out by courts for:
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Lack of relevant experience treating trans patients
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Relying on questionable methodology
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Making claims unsupported by peer-reviewed research
The real numbers
The following fundamental facts were obscured in court:
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Puberty blockers are reversible. Full stop. TheMayo Clinic confirms
that when you stop taking them, puberty resumes.
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Gender-affirming surgeries for minors areextremely rare
. The feds pointed this out, noting the Tennessee case isn t even about surgery access.
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Mental health impacts are documented: TheSeptember 2024 Nature Human Behavior study
found that anti-trans laws correlate with increased suicide attempts among trans teens.
What s actually evolving
Medical organizations assert that the fundamental science is sound, despite Justice Roberts’ description of this as a changing scenario. In reality, the political battle is developing as 25 states have enacted comparable prohibitions in spite of opposition from significant medical societies.
Transgender and non-binary gender identities are accepted as natural manifestations of human identity and expression, according to the American Medical Association. They caution that preventing access to care may have disastrous health effects.
What s next
By June, the Court will make a decision. Not just Tennessee’s statute is at risk; similar prohibitions in 25 other states may also be impacted. The wait goes on for trans teenagers and their doctors who are stuck in the middle.
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