Maia Hinesley-Saunders: The Skrmetti decision, Dobbs, and solidarity with the reproductive justice movement

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Published: 06-23-2025 11:22 AM

On June 18, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Skrmetti, one of the most important transgender rights cases to be heard by the court. The court ultimately decided to uphold a decision by the Sixth Circuit banning gender-affirming care (GAC) for minors, regardless of parental consent. Of great consequence was the court’s finding that Tennessee’s law (SB1) does not discriminate on the basis of sex and thus necessitates only a rational basis test (as opposed to heightened or strict scrutiny). The court thereby rejected the Equal Protection argument to protect access to GAC.

Notably, this decision highlighted the deep connections between the trans liberation movement, the reproductive justice movement, and other liberation movements of today. The legal reasoning used by the majority echoes its arguments in landmark reproductive health care cases, like Dobbs and Geduldig. Because the court does not consider state regulation of abortion a sex-based classification, abortion access laws are not subject to strict scrutiny. Republican-appointed justices have reasoned that, because not all women need access to abortions, an abortion ban is not sex discrimination because it does not affect all women. In a similar way, because not all trans people need access to GAC, as the justices reasoned in Skrmetti, SB1 cannot be considered sex-based discrimination.

This legal theory is again being weaponized to harm marginalized people.At a time when politicians on the right inhumanely scapegoat trans people, fear-monger, and seed political division, it is important to realize the power of collective inter-movement solidarity. We must not play into the hands of those who seek to harm us — the interests of women, queer and trans people, POC, all of us, should be cultivated through solidarity and collective power.

Maia Hinesley-Saunders

Northampton