Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) joined nine other Republican governors this week in calling on the Supreme Court to uphold a Tennessee law banning cross-sex hormone treatments for minors.
“South Dakota’s kids are our future, and I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans,” Noem said in a statement Tuesday after joining an amicus brief in the high-profile United States v. Skrmetti case, which surrounds the Biden-Harris administration’s bid to block Tennessee from enforcing its law aimed at protecting minors from undergoing life-altering medical gender transitions.
“The Biden-Harris Administration intervened in this case, but the federal government has no business forcing states to perform harmful, irreversible, and unscientific medical procedures on children,” Noem said.
Noem’s brief was joined by governors from Arkansas, Indiana, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
More than 30 separate amicus briefs arrived on the high court’s docket this week in support of Tennessee’s case, which is being defended by state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who last week rebutted the Biden administration’s viewpoint that the law is discriminatory against transgender minors under a theory that it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
The brief from Noem and conservative state governors argues that the Supreme Court’s “sex-discrimination precedent has never given courts the license to substitute their policy judgment for that of legislative bodies, especially on disputed medical and scientific issues.”
Legal scholars such as Manhattan Institute senior fellow Ilya Shapiro filed a separate brief on Tuesday adding that a lack of congruence among studies led by the “McNamara Group, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other U.S. medical organizations reveal a lack of consensus on core issues related to adolescent gender-affirming care.”
The Supreme Court decided to review the case after the Biden-Harris administration appealed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upholding Tennessee’s law.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which has led landmark cases at the high court, such as the 2022 decision that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, is calling on the justices to reject the Justice Department’s 14th Amendment argument when they hear oral arguments in the case later this year.
“ADF is deeply troubled about the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children with gender dysphoria,” the attorneys for ADF wrote in their own brief.
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“This has led many European nations and American states to regulate puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children with gender dysphoria. Given the high stakes and uncertain science, such caution is warranted,” the attorneys added.
The Supreme Court has not yet set a date for oral arguments, but legal experts predict they could hear the case in December or in early January.
