U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer is defending a Tennessee state law being challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Biden Administration banning transgender surgeries and medication for minors in the state.
From the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, Palmer (R-Hoover) stressed the implications of the case currently being tried. “I stand here today not just as a Congressman from the great state of Alabama, but also as a father… The case before the Court, United States of America v. Skrmetti, is about far more than a legal debate over Tennessee’s law,” said Palmer. “It is about whether states retain the right to protect children from irreversible harm.”
Palmer noted that Alabama has a similar law to Tennessee’s that was also challenged.
“Alabama has been at the forefront of this fight. Our state enacted a similar law in 2022, and while it was initially challenged in the courts, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, allowing Alabama to continue safeguarding our children,” he explained. “Our experience laid the groundwork for Tennessee’s law, and today we stand united with them and 25 other states determined to protect vulnerable youth from becoming casualties of unproven medical experiments.”
According to Palmer, findings in multiple studies are beginning to indicate that transgender treatments are not safe, particularly for minors.
“The evidence against these treatments is mounting. A 2022 report commissioned by the Swedish government, for example, concluded that ‘scientific basis is not sufficient’ to continue to conduct hormone treatments on children without further research. This is Sweden.”
Palmer also pointed to a particular study conducted by the National Institutes of Health that has been “buried” for “political considerations.”
“Despite reportedly finding that using puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoric adolescents ‘did not lead to mental health improvements,’ Dr. Olson-Kennedy—the leader of the research team—chose not to publish the findings because she said she was concerned the study results could be used in court to argue that ‘we shouldn’t use blockers’ in minors,” said Palmer. “She made this decision despite also finding a remarkably high suicide rate among children who received these treatments. Last month, I led a letter demanding the release of the report.”
“It’s interesting that the National Institutes of Health refuses to release the findings while this is being litigated in our courts. That proves that this is not about the children, it is about a left-wing agenda. I am, once again, calling on Director Monica Bertagnolli to release the full report to the public.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
