DOJ drops case against Tennessee medical mutilation ban
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The Department of Justice has dropped its lawsuit against Tennessee in the Supreme Court over the state’s ban on medical mutilation procedures for minors.
Tennessee is one of 26 states that have laws against medical mutilation procedures for minors, which include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and genital surgeries. These interventions are known to cause permanent castration, sterility, and other serious damage. In 2023, Tennessee’s legislature passed SB1, a law prohibiting medical providers from giving such medical interventions to children. The Biden DOJ collaborated with the ACLU to sue Tennessee, alleging that the law discriminates based on sex despite its equal application to males and females.
The Supreme Court will decide the fate of the law in the case captioned United States v. Skrmetti this summer based on oral arguments made in December.
On Friday, the Trump DOJ notified the Supreme Court that it is withdrawing its challenge against Tennessee.
“Following the change in Administration, the Department of Justice has reconsidered the United States’ position in this case,” Deputy Solicitor General Curtis Gannon wrote in a letter to the court. “The purpose of this letter is to notify the Court that the government’s previously stated views no longer represent the United States’ position.”
“The Department has now determined that SB1 does not deny equal protection on account of sex or any other characteristic,” he added. “Accordingly, the new Administration would not have intervened to challenge SB1 — let alone sought this Court’s review of the court of appeals’ decision reversing the preliminary injunction against SB1.”
The DOJ clarified that it is not seeking a dismissal of the case because a ruling is still needed to settle similar lawsuits in lower courts. The Supreme Court is expected to rule in favor of Tennessee.
US now officially opposes medical mutilation
The withdrawal comes after President Trump made it US policy to oppose medical mutilation for children. He signed an executive order titled “Protecting Children From Chemical Surgical Mutilation” disqualifying medical institutions from receiving federal funds if they medically mutilate minors. The order also directed various federal agencies to take several measures against medical mutilation providers — including insurance companies — and end “reliance on junk science.”
“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” the EO stated. “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.
“Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
