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In July, a divded panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit stayed a preliminary injunction against a Tennessee law barring pharmaceutical and surgical gender-affirming care for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria. A similar case arose out of Kentucky. On Thursday, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the preliminary injunctions issued in both cases. Chief Judge Sutton wrote the majoirty opinion in Skrmetti v. L.W., joined by Judge Thapar, rejecting both due process and equal protection challenges to the laws. Judge White dissented.
In his opinion, Chief Judge Sutton stresses the high hurdle plaintiffs must clear to justify a preliminary injunction, explains why the plaintiffs cannot show that the Tennessee and Kentucky laws are clearly precluded under existing precedent, and makes the case that judges should tread cautionsly before expanding existing constitutional guarantees to preclude state-level experimentation with emerging issues.
