Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond
OKLAHOMA CITY (June 18, 2025) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond said that today’s decision from the U.S. Supreme Court is a significant victory in his battle to protect Oklahoma children from the harmful practice of so-called “gender transition surgery.”
In U.S. v Skrmetti, the Supreme Court ruled that Tennessee has the right to ban minors from obtaining drugs and surgeries for the purpose of gender transition. The court ruled that a state banning minors from these procedures is best left to the elected leaders of the state.
Drummond notched a previous victory in favor of Oklahoma’s law when a federal judge ruled the law could stand. The ACLU, on behalf of an anonymous group of plaintiffs, sued the state in an attempt to block the law. The District Court agreed with Drummond that Oklahoma’s commonsense law was constitutional, and the case has been pending with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals while the Tennessee case was before the Supreme Court.
“This ruling is a tremendous victory for Oklahoma’s children, ensuring they will not be subjected to the consequences of these life-altering surgeries,” Drummond said. “The practice is unconscionable, and I appreciate the court’s ruling that we as a state have the right to protect Oklahoma children from this irreparable harm.”
In the opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field. The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound. The Equal Protection Clause does not resolve these disagreements. Nor does it afford us license to decide them as we see best. Our role is not ‘to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic’ of the law before us, but only to ensure that it does not violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process.”
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