Law and Lived Experience

Law and Lived Experience

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.” Luke 17:1-3

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. Philippians 3:1-2

Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Ban on Gender Transition Treatments for Minors

In a landmark decision with sweeping implications for state power and youth gender medicine, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in US v Skrmetti Supreme Court Decision that Tennessee’s law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Tennessee Senate Bill 1

Like many other states which have enacted laws protecting children from mutilation, Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1 (SB1) prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to minors if the treatment is intended to help the minor live as a gender different from their biological sex.

The law permits the same medications when used for other conditions, i.e., precocious puberty or congenital abnormalities – regardless of the patient’s sex.

Procedural Posture

In the underlying case, 3 minors who believe they are currently “transgender”, their parents, and a doctor (joined by the U.S. Department of Justice) challenged the law.  They argued SB1 discriminates based on sex and transgender status.  The district court agreed and issued an injunction.

The Sixth Circuit reversed.   The case went up to the Supreme Court on appeal.

Supreme Court Opinion: Key Takeaways

I encourage you to read the opinion. US v Skrmetti Supreme Court Decision

Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, held that the law does not classify based on sex or transgender status and therefore does not require heightened scrutiny.

Instead, the Court applied “rational basis” review – the most deferential standard – and found that Tennessee’s stated interest in protecting minors from potentially irreversible medical harm was sufficient.

The Court emphasized:

• The law applies equally to both sexes and targets medical uses, not identities.
• Mere references to sex or disparate impact on transgender individuals do not automatically trigger constitutional scrutiny.
• The state has latitude to legislate in areas of medical and scientific uncertainty, citing similar caution in European countries.

Concurring Opinions

Justices Thomas and Barrett joined but added that Bostock’s reasoning should not be transplanted into constitutional analysis.

Justice Alito agreed with the judgment but wrote separately to stress limits on judicial power.

Why Transgender Status Isn’t a Suspect Class

The Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution protects people from unfair treatment by the government – especially those who belong to certain groups that have historically been mistreated because of something they cannot change. Courts call these groups “suspect classes.”

To qualify as a suspect class, a group usually needs to meet three key criteria:

1. They’ve faced a long history of discrimination.
2. They are defined by a trait that is obvious and unchangeable (immutable).
3. That trait has no bearing on their ability to function or contribute to society.

This is why courts have treated race, national origin, and sometimes biological sex as suspect or quasi-suspect classes.

These are things you’re born with. You didn’t choose them, and you can’t change them.

Trans-ideology Makes No Sense

Now, let’s apply this to transgender status.

The very foundation of transgender ideology is that gender is fluid and self-determined – that someone can feel or identify as something different from their biological sex.

But here’s the contradiction: you can’t argue both that gender is changeable and that transgender identity is fixed and immutable.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett masterfully articulated this:

The conclusion that transgender individuals do not share the ‘obvious, immutable, or distinguishing characteristics’ of a discrete group is enough to demonstrate that transgender status does not define a suspect class.

She’s absolutely right.  If a group isn’t tied together by an unchangeable, visible trait, the Equal Protection Clause doesn’t require the government to give them heightened protection.

“Gender affirming” treatments contradict their very ideology.

And here’s where the logic breaks down even further:

If being born with a penis doesn’t make you a man, then how does removing it make you more or less of one? 

If being born with breasts doesn’t make you a woman, how does removing them make you more or less of one?

Gender ideology is confusing – and targets those who are the most easily confused – children.

It’s not compassionate to build legal protections on a contradiction. The law is meant to protect real, identifiable classes of people—not categories built on personal belief or internal identity that shifts every day, without boundaries.

So while every human being is made in God’s image and worthy of dignity and love, not every identity claim deserves suspect class status under the Constitution. That status is reserved for those who truly can’t change who they are—and whose differences should never be used as a reason to treat them as lesser under the law.

The Dissents

Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, sharply dissented, accusing the majority of “blessing state-enforced conformity” and ignoring the law’s clear roots in sex-based distinctions. She argued that the law penalizes minors because of their sex and identity.

The Role of Lived Experience in Shaping Perspective

Of the three dissenting justices, two – Kagan and Sotomayor – are not mothers. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has children.

This is not an indictment, but it does invite a deeper cultural and spiritual consideration:

Does the absence of parental experience make someone more likely to embrace ideologies that sound compassionate – but may ultimately disregard a child’s long-term wellbeing?

This isn’t a question of intellect or sincerity.  All three justices are brilliant legal minds, committed to justice.

But Scripture reminds us that wisdom is not just intellectual—it’s experiential, relational, and often forged in the crucible of responsibility.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household… Proverbs 31:26–27

Parental Perspective

Mothers, by God’s design, are daily immersed in the tangible reality of nurturing, disciplining, guiding, and protecting children. That experience can ground a woman’s instincts in ways that abstract ideology often cannot.

When a child says, “I want this,” the mother instinctively asks, “But is this good for you?”

This kind of love—a protective, long-view love—is something Scripture describes as a model for leadership and care.

Protecting Children

As a society, we regulate so many aspects of childhood for their safety and long-term wellbeing. But when it comes to gender transition procedures, we’re suddenly told that age and maturity no longer matter. That’s not compassion—that’s confusion.

How is it that we consider minors too immature to drink alcohol, vote, or even get a tattoo – yet some advocate for allowing them to make irreversible decisions about their bodies, including surgeries that remove healthy reproductive organs?

At what point did feelings override wisdom, and why are we abandoning the protective boundaries we once placed around children?

When Ideology Clouds Judgment

The dissent reflects a cultural push to prioritize a child’s stated identity over caution and long-term health.

Without the grounding of parenthood – or a Bibilical view of the body as God’s creation—it’s easier to embrace ideologies that sound compassionate, but may lead to harm.

Children, especially minors, lack the maturity to make irreversible decisions.  There is a growing group of young detransitioners speaking out about this, including Chloe Cole.  I beg you to listen to their voices.

Scripture warns against being swayed by worldly wisdom:

Claiming to be wise, they became fools… and exchanged the truth about God for a lie… Romans 1:22, 25

What About the Parents Who Want This?

Yet, what about parents who support their child’s desire to transition?

Some argue this reflects love and respect for their child’s autonomy.  But that isn’t love.

Love isn’t allowing your children to do whatever they want, because they feel a certain way.

Parents can be swayed by cultural pressures or fear of rejecting their child, mistaking affirmation for protection.

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.  Proverbs 22:6

God calls parents to guide, not follow, their children’s desires.   Society, including laws like Tennessee’s, sometimes must step in to protect minors when parents falter, just as it does in cases of abuse or neglect.

Motherhood

Motherhood transformed me, in every way.

I uesd to believe that custody should be 50/50.  I recall the early days of my career, where I advocated for fathers to have 50/50 timeshare of a breastfeeding NEWBORN.

I had a total transformation after having children – read my blog post about Breastfeeding and Father’s Rights.

Where I once saw custody disputes as battles for fairness, after I had my own children, and holding them, and breastfeeding them, my eyes were open.

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” Isaish 66:13

This perspective, forged in experience, makes me question whether those without children can fully weigh the stakes of irreversible medical choices for minors.

A Call for Discernment and Compassion

As believers, we are called to think carefully and compassionately, especially when children are involved.

Protecting minors from irreversible decisions made in seasons of confusion is not hateful.

It’s an act of love and wisdom.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” —Romans 12:2

Let’s lift up all the Supreme Court Justices in prayer.  Lord, open the eyes of those who may not have children.  Help them understand how we can protect children.