Landmark Ruling Rejects Biden Administration’s Push for Constitutional Right to Harm Children
SACRAMENTO, CA – California Family Council (CFC) celebrates today’s landmark Supreme Court decision in United States of America v. Skrmetti, upholding Tennessee’s bipartisan law protecting children from harmful and life-altering drugs and surgeries. This decisive ruling represents a monumental victory for children’s health, science-based medicine, and the fundamental truth that no one has the right to harm a child.
CFC President Jonathan Keller spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court during the oral arguments for this case on December 4, 2024. (Watch video)
“The Supreme Court has resoundingly rejected the Biden administration and ACLU’s dangerous attempt to create a ‘constitutional right’ to give children experimental drugs and surgeries that turn them into patients for life,” said Jonathan Keller, President and CEO of California Family Council. “This decision vindicates the voices of courageous families and individual detransitioners who have been warning about the irreversible damage caused by this corrosive dogma.”
In a powerful admonition, Justice Clarence Thomas warned that “this case carries a simple lesson: in politically contentious debates over matters shrouded in scientific uncertainty, courts should not assume that self described experts are correct.”
A Victory for Science-Based Medicine and Common Sense
The Court’s decision comes at a critical time when increasing numbers of former transgender individuals are speaking out about the devastating consequences of childhood gender interventions. Just last week, advocates from the CHANGED Movement joined CFC at the California State Capitol to share their powerful testimonies of transformation and healing—stories that directly counter the dangerous narrative that gender confusion is permanent and unchangeable.
The Supreme Court recognized that Tennessee’s bipartisan law is “plainly rationally related” to protecting children from procedures that “can lead to the minor becoming irreversibly sterile, having increased risk of disease and illness, or suffering from adverse and sometimes fatal psychological consequences.” The Court affirmed that states have a legitimate objective in “protecting minors’ health and welfare.”
“The stories we heard at our recent Capitol event demonstrate what the Supreme Court recognized today: children’s gender confusion is often temporary and can be resolved through proper care and support, not through permanent medical alterations that create lifelong patients,” Keller noted. “These brave individuals remind us that change is possible and that we must protect children’s futures, not foreclose them through ideology-driven medicine.”
California’s Dangerous Divergence from Common Sense
While 25 states now have similar laws protecting children from experimental gender treatments—all of which are strengthened by today’s ruling—California continues to position itself as a dangerous outlier. Our state has not only refused to protect children within our borders but has actively sought to undermine other states’ protective measures and encourage families to bring their children to California for these harmful procedures.
- SB 107 (2023) Gov. Newsom Signs Bill to Strip Children from Parents to Medically Transgender Them
- SB- 497 (2025 Passed Assembly Judiciary committee yesterday) The bill strengthens protections for individuals seeking transgender surgeries and drugs. Watch hearing: https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/259454?t=977&f=8e0bd5fb2505e3cdfd54f8a7ac17d00a
Also watch below: I Was Lied To: Detransitioner Layla Jane Shreds SB 497 in Fiery Capitol Testimony.
“California’s radical gender ideology policies put our children at risk and violate the fundamental biblical truth that God created us male and female,” said Keller. “As Genesis 1:27 declares, ‘God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’ This divine design is not a mistake to be corrected but a gift to be celebrated and protected. The Supreme Court has now made clear that states can and should base their laws on evidence, not ideology.”
The Science Supports Protection
Contrary to activists’ claims, the scientific evidence increasingly demonstrates the dangers of rushing children into gender transition treatments:
- Multiple European countries, including Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom, have dramatically restricted these treatments for minors due to lack of evidence and potential harms
- The Cass Review, commissioned by England’s National Health Service, found “remarkably weak” evidence supporting pediatric gender treatments
- Growing numbers of young adults are seeking to reverse their transitions, highlighting the experimental and often regrettable nature of these interventions
A Call for California to Embrace Science and Protect Children
California Family Council calls on state legislators and Governor Newsom to follow the Supreme Court’s wisdom and join the 25 states that have chosen to protect children from these dangerous experimental treatments.
“The stories of healing and transformation we witnessed at our recent Capitol event prove that children struggling with gender confusion need compassionate care and patient support, not radical medical interventions that create patients for life,” Keller emphasized. “We must return to science-based medicine and create space for children to grow and develop naturally, free from the pressure to make permanent decisions about their bodies during the most vulnerable years of their lives.”
Standing with Truth and Families
As the Trump administration works to restore sanity to federal policy on these issues, California Family Council remains committed to advancing God’s design for life, family, and liberty throughout our state. We will continue to amplify the voices of those who have found healing and wholeness outside of transgender identity, and we will never stop fighting for the protection of California’s children.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a beacon of hope for families across America,” concluded Keller. “It reminds us that truth will ultimately prevail and that we must never stop fighting for the safety and wellbeing of our children. The Court has spoken clearly: states can and must protect children from ideological experiments that risk their futures.”
