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By Oliver Haug | 2024 marks the first time in several years that the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a significant case relating to abortion rights—but the question of the constitutional right to bodily autonomy remains on the docket. On Wednesday, Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for trans youth. The case is the first of its kind to be heard by the nation’s highest court—and as such will likely set an important precedent for future trans rights cases.
The plaintiffs in the case are Samantha and Brian Williams, of Nashville, and their 15-year-old daughter L.W., who is trans, as well as two other anonymous families and the Memphis-based Dr. Susan Lacy. In April of last year, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and a private law firm, they filed suit against the state of Tennessee and the state’s attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti, seeking to block the ban. The case marks the first time an openly trans attorney will argue before the court, with Chase Strangio, co-director for transgender justice with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, representing the clients.
“I don’t even want to think about having to go back to the dark place I was in before I was able to come out and access the care that my doctors have prescribed for me,” said L.W., per the ACLU. “I want this law to be struck down so that I can continue to receive the care I need, in conversation with my parents and my doctors, and have the freedom to live my life and do the things I enjoy.”
The Tennessee law in question took effect last summer, after an appeals court denied plaintiffs’ request for an injunction. The plaintiffs are arguing that the state’s ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause—an argument similar to one made in 2020’s Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the Court found that discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers counts as discrimination on the basis of sex under Title VII.
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