The June 19 Enquirer article, “Supreme Court upholds trans care ban,” includes a very thought-provoking statement from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts said that “it is his understanding that the Constitution leaves that question (Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care) to the people’s representatives, rather than to nine people (the Supreme Court), none of whom is a doctor.”
Can it then be concluded from Roberts’ statement that the courts and the people’s representatives (I assume he meant those elected to state legislatures) should use the science and knowledge of medical doctors and medical organizations to develop policies and construct their legal opinions? Given the chief justice’s words, I cannot understand why Supreme Court justices and state legislators cannot accept the science and research-based facts that gender-affirming care is supported by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association.
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The members of these professional organizations are the doctors whom Roberts acknowledges he is not one of, and whom he admits would be better suited to deciding on the matter of gender-affirming care. His statement raises serious questions about states’ rights, medical care and the decisions of state legislators.
A transgender flag waves outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024, the day the justices considered the constitutionality of Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Only three members out of 132 (33 senators and 99 representatives) in the Tennessee Legislature are physicians. The implications of Roberts’ statement seem to be that non-physicians, even if they are Supreme Court justices, cannot and should not make medical decisions, but state legislators, who by in large are also non-physicians, can somehow make medical decisions for an at-risk population.
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In Ohio and Tennessee, non-physician state legislators are making medical decisions, significant decisions, which impact the overall health of the citizens they represent. They are practicing many different aspects of medicine for which they are unqualified.
These lawmakers, in essence, are practicing medicine without a license and, even worse, ignoring medical knowledge.
Louis Claybon, Hyde Park
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Lawmakers are unqualified to make trans health care decisions | Letter