Supreme Court allows Idaho to enforce ban on gender-affirming care for nearly all transgender minors for now

Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to allow Idaho officials enforce a ban on gender-affirming medical care for nearly all transgender minors statewide, granting a request from state officials to narrow the scope of a lower court's order that blocked the law from taking effect.

The court's conservative majority granted the state's request for a stay over the objections of the three liberals, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The stay does not apply to the two transgender teenage plaintiffs in the case and the care they are seeking, but blocks the more expansive portions of the lower court's decision.

"The district court's order promised to run for the life of this lawsuit, thus preventing Idaho from executing any aspect of its law for years. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs face no harm from the partial stay the State requests," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in an opinion that was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.