The Supreme Court’s conservative majority allowed Idaho to enforce a law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender kids and teens while the law is contested through litigation.
The court granted Idaho state officials an emergency request on Monday, despite the objection of its three liberal justices. The order makes an exception for the two teenagers who brought the suit, who may still receive care. For everyone else, gender-affirming treatment is banned.
The controversial 2023 law could land Idaho doctors in up to 10 years in prison if they provide treatments such as puberty blockers, hormonal treatments or other kinds of care to trans minors.
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Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued the law violated the 14th Amendment by discriminating on the basis of sex, and a district judge blocked the state from enforcing the law while the litigation was in progress.
The Supreme Court reversed that decision.
Its three liberals would have opted instead for the law to be blocked entirely while the litigation proceeds. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that it would’ve been better to let the teenagers’ case proceed “without our intervention” and said the Supreme Court was effectively “micromanaging” lower courts.
The lawsuit is currently with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
