U.S. v. Skrmetti

Keeping Score: More Attacks on Trans Rights; Sexual Assault Should Disqualify Cabinet Nominees, Americans Say; Female Professors Win Lawsuit and Backpay for Pay Disparity

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: The Supreme Court considers a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans teens; data shows crimes in public restrooms and changing rooms are extremely rare, and are not decreased by laws preventing trans people from using public bathrooms; analyzing Trump’s cabinet nominees; midwives say climate change is harming their communities; Nevada maintains a majority woman legislature; criminal justice reform for probation, parole and bail is critical; Arizona moves to end 15-week abortion ban; Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal have asked the Biden administration to limit the federal government from deploying troops domestically; and more.

Conservative Supreme Court to Rule on Right to Be Trans, Medical Care, Parents’ Rights, Constitutional Sex Discrimination—and the Right to Be Different

“I’m here to stand up for my kid,” Brian Williams told me outside the Supreme Court on Dec. 4. Williams and his wife Samantha have been fighting for their daughter—known as L.W. in the legal papers the ACLU filed to challenge Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors—for years.

Though difficult to sit through, the two-plus hours of argument in United States v. Skrmetti—a challenge by trans youth, their families, the ACLU, Lambda Legal and the Biden administration to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors—was a nearly perfect distillation of this moment in our gender politics.

The Same Conservative Playbook That Overturned Roe Is Now Coming for Trans Healthcare

2024 marks the first time in several years that the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a significant case relating to abortion rights—but the question of the constitutional right to bodily autonomy remains on the docket. On Wednesday, Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for trans youth. The case is the first of its kind to be heard by the nation’s highest court—and as such will likely set an important precedent for future trans rights cases.

“The Court has the opportunity and duty to apply the law fairly, which means returning medical decisions to where they rightfully belong: to parents, their children and their doctors.”