Constitution and can therefore remain in effect. Wednesday’s decision was split along ideological lines, with the high court’s six conservative judges siding with Tennessee and its three left-leaning judges joining together for a dissent. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the majority. In it, he explained that the plaintiffs — three transgender minors, their parents and a doctor — had not successfully shown a violation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law. The plaintiffs had sought to lift the ban, arguing that Tennessee’s law, known as SB1, discriminated against them based on their sex and gender.

Roberts, however, disagreed. He pointed out that the ban applies to young men and women equally. “SB1 does not mask sex-based classifications,” he wrote. “The law does not prohibit conduct for one sex that it permits for the other. Under SB1, no minor may be administered puberty blockers or hormones to treat gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, or gender incongruence.” Roberts also noted that puberty blockers continue to be available under the Tennessee law to treat congenital defects, early puberty, disease or injury among children. That application likewise was allowed regardless of sex, he wrote. “SB1 does not exclude any individual from medical treatments on the basis of transgender status but rather removes one set of diagnoses — gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, and gender incongruence — from the range of treatable conditions,” Roberts said.

Transgender youth are sometimes prescribed hormone inhibitors to delay the onset of puberty, thereby stopping the development of secondary sexual characteristics like breasts, deepening voices and facial hair. LGBTQ advocates say such gender-affirming care is essential in some cases to alleviate the stress of such changes and reduce the potential need for surgeries later on. Puberty blockers are widely considered to be safe and their effects temporary. But Roberts noted that some medical providers are pushing for more research into the long-term effects of the drugs and pointing to “open questions” in the medical field. (Al Jazeera/AP)