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Ranking Member Nadler and 163 Members of Congress File Brief to Defend Trans Rights at SCOTUS [1]

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Date: 2024-09-03

WASHINGTON, DC —Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Senator Ed Markey (MA), and Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) filed an amicus brief to defend transgender Americans’ right to access medically-necessary healthcare in the upcoming Supreme Court case U.S. v. Skrmetti. The brief was joined, in total, by 11 Senators and 153 Representatives, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05), House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (CA-33), and every Equality Caucus Co-Chair and Vice Chair. The members’ brief highlights the role that animosity has played in legislation banning medically necessary care for transgender youth and urges the court to strike down Tennessee’s ban.



“Tennessee’s discriminatory ban on transgender minors’ access to necessary healthcare is an illegitimate law enacted as part of a nationwide movement to villainize trans people for political gain,” said House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler. “Transgender people deserve the same access to healthcare as everyone else. There is no constitutionally sound justification to strip from families with transgender children, and their doctors, the decision to seek medical care and give it to politicians sitting in the state capitol. I trust parents, not politicians, to decide what is best for their transgender children.”



“Decisions about healthcare belong to patients, their doctors, and their families—not politicians,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “The law at issue in this case is motivated by an animus towards the trans community and is part of a cruel, coordinated attack on trans rights by anti-equality extremists. We strongly urge the Supreme Court to uphold the constitution’s promise of equal protection under the law and strike down Tennessee’s harmful ban.”



“For years, far-right Republicans have been leading constant, relentless, and escalating attacks on transgender Americans. Their age-old, discriminatory playbook now threatens access to lifesaving, gender-affirming care for more than 100,000 transgender and nonbinary children living in states with these bans if the Supreme Court uphold laws like Tennessee’s at the heart of Skrmetti fueled by ignorance and hate.” said Senator Markey. “It takes a special type of cruelty to target children for who they are. I am proud to stand with my colleagues against dangerous, transphobic attacks and reaffirming that our nation’s commitment should be to equality and justice for all.”



“This case is about the freedom to access medically necessary care,” said Energy & Commerce Committee Ranking Member Pallone. “Tennessee’s SB1 is a clear violation of the Constitution and blatantly interferes in doctors’ ability to care for their patients in consultation with their families. Moreover, if allowed to stand, it will establish a dangerous precedent that will open the floodgates to further discrimination against transgender Americans.”



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[1] Url: https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5370

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