CONCORD, N.H. - The ACLU of New Hampshire today responded to the Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a challenge brought by three transgender adolescents, their families, and a Memphis-based medical provider against a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming hormone therapies for transgender people under 18.
According to the national ACLU and Lambda Legal, the Court agreed with parts of the Sixth Circuit’s opinion that allowed the law to take effect, holding that Tennessee’s SB1 does not draw a sex-based (or a trans status-based) line and thus only necessitates deferential review by the courts. That means SB1 can remain in effect. Notably, however, the decision is based on the record in and context of the Tennessee case and therefore does not extend to New Hampshire’s current laws or other cases concerning discrimination based on transgender status.
Devon Chaffee, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, said, “The Supreme Court’s decision today is a devastating moment and a painful setback for transgender youth, their families, and their doctors. Importantly, this decision does not change current law in New Hampshire - but it does mean that we must make it overwhelmingly clear that any future bans on this critical healthcare cannot be allowed in the Granite State. Transgender young people and their families are not alone in the road ahead: we will continue to fight in courtrooms and communities across the country to ensure all people — including transgender people — have the dignity and equality they deserve and the freedom to shape their own futures.”
In New Hampshire, two bills that could similarly ban healthcare options for transgender people under 18 are soon headed to Governor Ayotte’s desk (HB 337 and HB 712). Legislation and bans like this have already uprooted families and communities across our state and country, and the risk of further harm in light of this Court’s ruling is devastating.
U.S. v. Skrmetti began when a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on behalf of Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their 16-year-old transgender daughter, as well as two other plaintiff families filing anonymously and Memphis-based physician Dr. Susan Lacy. The plaintiff families and Dr. Lacy argued that the law violates the Equal Protection rights of transgender adolescents. Under President Joe Biden, the United States also intervened to argue that the Tennessee law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. After President Trump’s inauguration, the U.S. reversed its position.
Since 2021, 25 states have enacted categorical bans on gender-affirming medical care, such as hormone therapy and puberty-suppressant medications, for treating gender dysphoria in transgender youth yet readily allow those same medications for other and similar purposes for cisgender youth. Over 100,000 transgender people under 18 now live in a state with a ban on their healthcare, including New Hampshire.
In January 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to withhold funds from medical providers and institutions that provide gender-affirming medical treatments such as puberty suppressants and hormone therapies to any trans person under 19. That order was soon challenged on behalf of families, medical providers, and advocates by the ACLU and the Lambda Legal and is blocked from enforcement by a preliminary injunction.
