SCOTUS Skrmetti ruling is not just a legal win. It's a cultural milestone
The U.S. Supreme Court gave a resounding answer on June 18 to one of the most pressing moral questions of our time: Should children be protected from irreversible gender-transition procedures?
In a 6-3 ruling, the Court upheld in United States v. Skrmetti Tennessee’s Help Not Harm law (Senate Bill 1), affirming what we at Family Policy Alliance (FPA) have known and fought for over the past eight years, that children cannot consent to experimental, life-altering medical interventions. States have the right and duty to protect them.
We rejoice in this landmark decision because it validates everything the Help Not Harm movement has stood for from the beginning. It’s a victory for common sense, biological reality, and, most importantly, for the vulnerable children who have been caught in the crosshairs of a radical ideology that seeks to rewrite the DNA in every cell in every human being.
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When we first drafted the model for what would become Senate Bill 1 in 2017, we knew we were taking on a decisive cultural battle. But the truth has a way of standing firm, even in the fiercest storms.
The Supreme Court’s majority opinion, delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts, confirmed what has long been clear to parents, faith leaders, and citizens across the nation. Sex is not a changeable characteristic. It is a biological fact.
The Court also made clear that Tennessee’s law does not discriminate. It applies equally to all minors, male and female. What it does discriminate against is dangerous experimentation on children. It holds accountable those in the medical profession who have violated their oath by pushing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and even irreversible surgeries on minors who are too young to grasp the lifelong consequences.
This ruling is a clear signal that the tide has turned. For too long, the lie that children can choose their gender and permanently alter their bodies with medical approval stood largely unchallenged. Now, the highest court in the land has weighed in, affirming that children deserve protection rather than an affirmation of confusion and lifelong medicalized damage.
We are thankful for the courageous legislators and governors across 25 states who have already passed similar laws, such as those in Texas, Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia. In fact, legislators in five states overrode their governors’ vetoes in order to protect children. These leaders did not bend to pressure from activist groups, which sued to block Tennessee’s law. They stood firm, and now their stand has been vindicated.
The ruling is not just a legal win. It’s a cultural milestone.
However, the work is far from over. At Family Policy Alliance, we resolve to continue fighting until every state in this country has a Help Not Harm law on the books. We will not rest until the federal government recognizes that protecting children from harmful ideology is not hatred; it is compassion.
We know this truth deeply: Children struggling with their identity deserve help, not harm. They need guidance, not chemicals.
If similar reversals of course in the U.K., Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands were not enough, this Supreme Court decision should serve as a wake-up call to the medical community, educators, and policymakers nationwide. We can no longer ignore the irreversible consequences that experimental gender treatments have on children.
The days of ignoring the damage are over. One day, in the not-too-distant future, I believe we will look back on these procedures in the same way we now view frontal lobotomies for those suffering from mental illness — with horror, disgust, and outrage. We can, and must, do better for our children.
To be clear, compassion is not measured by how affirming we are of a child’s confusion but by how willing we are to stand in the gap and offer real help based on truth. We owe it to this generation and future generations to preserve a culture that upholds truth, recognizes biological reality, and affirms the inherent worth of every child without requiring them to change who they are to be accepted. Children deserve our protection, not experimentation labeled as progress.
With this ruling, our state and federal government are free to do just that. Now, it’s up to each of us to live out the message in our society that our children are not pawns in a cultural war. They are precious gifts to protect, not harm.
Craig DeRoche is the CEO of Family Policy Alliance and the former Michigan Speaker of the House.
