In a rebuke to a federal district court’s decision to halt Idaho’s law prohibiting doctors from administering puberty-blocking drugs and hormone treatments to children, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the law can be enforced while the legal battle over its constitutionality continues.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Clarence Thomas, issued a concurring opinion, while Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, issued another. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented. Justice Elena Kagan also expressed her dissent. Chief Justice John Roberts did not provide any comments.

Although the law primarily concerns medical intervention in determining a child’s biological sex, much of the focus in the opinions centered around the injunction imposed by U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill, which temporarily blocked the law.

“The district court issued this sweeping relief even though, by its own admission, the plaintiffs had failed to ‘engage’ with other provisions of Idaho’s law that don’t presently affect them — including the law’s provisions prohibiting the surgical removal of children’s genitals. Id., at 52. In choosing such an extraordinary remedy, the district court clearly strayed from equity’s traditional bounds,” Gorsuch wrote in his concurrence.

“The district court purported to bar the State from bringing into effect portions of a statute that no party has shown, and no court has held, likely offensive to federal law,” he wrote.

The New York Times highlighted in its report that the viewpoints did not address transgender treatments, but rather focused on universal injunctions.

“Universal injunctions are when a single judge issues a sweeping decision that applies beyond those directly involved in the dispute. Some justices have signaled an interest in looking at the tactic,” the Times wrote.

Despite the legal dispute taking place behind closed doors, the court’s decision permits Idaho to proceed with the law, except for the two underage individuals who filed the lawsuit. As per the legislation, medical practitioners can face a maximum prison term of 10 years if they administer treatments like puberty blockers, hormones, and mastectomies that are not in line with the child’s biological sex, as reported by Reuters.

“The state has a duty to protect and support all children, and that’s why I’m proud to defend Idaho’s law that ensures children are not subjected to these life-altering drugs and procedures,” Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said after the ruling.


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