CINCINNATI, Ohio (LifeSiteNews) — Gender-confused children in Kentucky and Tennessee can be protected from dangerous surgical and chemical mutilation, sometimes misleadingly called “gender-affirming care,” following a ruling on Thursday.
The United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld laws in the two states that generally prohibit the procedures on minors.
READ: LifeSite launches map tracking wave of laws against transgender mutilation in the US
The three-panel judge cited substantial medical evidence that showed the dangers of these procedures, which also promote the false idea that someone can change his or her sex.
The majority opinion stated:
Kentucky and Tennessee offered considerable evidence about the risks of these treatments and the flaws in existing research. Administering puberty blockers to prevent pubertal development can cause diminished bone density, infertility, and sexual dysfunction.
Introducing high doses of testosterone to female minors increases the risk of erythrocytosis, myocardial infarction, liver dysfunction, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, and breast and uterine cancer. And giving young males high amounts of estrogen can cause sexual dysfunction and increases the risk of macroprolactinoma, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, cholelithiasis, and hypertriglyceridemia.
The two judges in the majority, Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton and Judge Amul Thapar, cited the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling in their opinion. The court also declined to find a new “right” to the procedures in the same way that liberal judges in the past have purported to find a “right” to abortion, sodomy, and same-sex “marriage” in the Constitution.
Judges “should be humble and careful about announcing new substantive due process or equal protection rights that limit accountable elected officials from sorting out these medical, social, and policy challenges,” the majority opinion stated.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the decision “a big win for democracy” and wrote that “elected representatives” should be deciding these issues.
The far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which tried to get the legislation struck down, called the ruling “devastating,” using the baseless claim that gender-confused children will commit suicide if they cannot have their breasts surgically removed or their fertility permanently ended.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which intervened to support the law, praised the ruling.
ADF attorney John Bursch stated that Kentucky and Tennessee “are right to protect minors from harmful, irreversible, and experimental medical procedures that can permanently alter children’s bodies without any proven long-term benefit.”
“Children suffering discomfort with their sex are best served by compassionate mental health care,” he stated.
READ: Federal court upholds Tennessee law protecting kids from transgender drugs, surgeries
Kentucky passed its law despite a veto from its liberal Democratic governor, Andy Beshear. Tennessee passed its law following reporting from Matt Walsh and the Daily Wire that showed how the Vanderbilt University Medical Center was committing the procedures on kids out of a profit motive.
“This is huge. Our ban on child mutilation has been upheld. When we passed the bill, trans activists gloated that they would easily get it overturned in court,” Walsh wrote on X. “Who’s gloating now you child butchering ghouls?”
This is huge. Our ban on child mutilation has been upheld. When we passed the bill, trans activists gloated that they would easily get it overturned in court. Who’s gloating now you child butchering ghouls? https://t.co/cQCeUo2cH2
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 29, 2023
Some federal courts have ruled favorably on the common-sense protections
The federal ruling provides another legal victory for protections for individuals who are confused about their gender.
Last month, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Alabama’s law that protects kids from the harmful chemical and surgical interventions.
A federal judge, citing the 11th Circuit ruling, upheld Florida’s regulations on adults receiving the harmful and irreversible procedures.
LifeSiteNews has extensively covered the problems with transgenderism, which promotes the lie that someone can change their sex. A compilation of articles that include stories from formerly gender-confused individuals, medical experts, and social scientists can be found here.