The Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals Have Upheld Bans on So-called “Gender-Affirming Care” for Minors

August 13, 2025

It looks like the U.S. courts have finally had it with allowing doctors to sterilize and perform surgery on minors at the altar of “gender identity.” That’s in part thanks to the Supreme Court’s June decision in United States v. Skrmetti, where the Court ruled 6-3 that states may prohibit the administration of puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones on kids.

To be clear, I’m not entirely happy with the Court’s majority opinion in Skrmetti. I’m very happy the majority ruled that such state laws are constitutional and upheld a previous decision from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling the same. However, the 6th Circuit had gone further and ruled expressly that phrases like “transgender status” do not describe a constitutionally protected classification of people. The 6th Circuit’s decision was very clear that “trans” is not a coherent category of people, that the status of “being trans” is not immutable, and that “trans” is not politically powerless. As such, the 6th Circuit said, claims of sex discrimination brought under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment on the basis of “trans” are not subjected to heightened scrutiny. The majority of the Supreme Court in Skrmetti did not go that far (though three concurring Justices would have voted to do so).

This post will take a look at recent decisions from the Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals on the topic of “transing” kids. Read on if you want to learn more.

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