URGE Statement on U.S. v. Skrmetti Oral Arguments
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a landmark case challenging Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Gender-affirming care refers to the range of treatments to support and affirm a person’s gender identity, which includes hormone replacement therapy, fertility preservation and more. 24 states, including Tennessee, have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth since 2021. Gender-affirming care and hormone therapy for transgender, non-binary and gender-expansive youth are proven to be lifesaving medical treatments.
In response, Kimberly Inez McGuire, Executive Director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, said:
“Each of us should be able to make our own decisions about medical care, and decide with our families and our providers what is best. Most Americans agree. Unfortunately, the same conservative extremists who have made abortion a crime in half the country are now trying to take gender-affirming care away from people who need it. This year, we have seen malicious misinformation campaigns that spread lies and deny the humanity of transgender people. It’s unacceptable and cruel.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs and a second Trump administration are pushing the country to a dangerous future, where our ability to get birth control, hormones for menopause and other medical conditions, IVF, and the right to marry who we love and build families — it’s all on the chopping block.
As the Supreme Court considers U.S. v. Skrmetti, a clear case of discrimination against transgender people in healthcare, we are reminded that sexism and transphobia are two sides of the same coin.
Hear me loud and clear: a ruling that allows legal healthcare discrimination in U.S. v. Skrmetti will effectively exclude transgender people from the rights all Americans enjoy under the U.S.
Gender justice demands that gender-affirming care, like reproductive care, be available to all who need it, without politicians interfering. It’s time for every one of us to stand in solidarity with our transgender siblings and stop the cruel and inhumane denial of healthcare.”
