Standing Against the Medical Mutilation of Children

Washington, DC – October 17, 2024

On October 15, 2024, Dr. Simone Gold and the AFLDS legal team filed a bold amici curiae brief with the Supreme Court of the United States, in support of the Respondents in United States v. Skrmetti (formerly L.W. v. Skrmetti). The Respondents are being sued by the Biden-Harris administration over SB1, Tennessee’s law that prohibits “gender-affirming care” for minors. By submitting our amici curiae brief, AFLDS joins the Respondents in calling for SCOTUS to affirm the judgment of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In short, we are asking the High Court to allow the state of Tennessee to enforce its own law which protects the health and safety of children by prohibiting these dangerous interventions.

The government (Petitioner) argues that the state’s law discriminates on the basis of sex, violating the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. However, simply assessing the lines drawn by SB1 reveals the absence of any sex-based classification. The law creates two groups: (1) minors seeking to use puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for gender transition, and (2) minors seeking to use puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for other medical purposes. Both groups include both sexes, defeating the government’s equal protection argument.

AFLDS maintains that minors are incapable of giving true and legal informed consent to medical mutilation. Despite the overwhelming evidence that these “treatments” result in permanent disfigurement, ushering children into lifelong medical misery instead of compassionate care, doctors who once took an oath to “do no harm” are now performing “gender-affirming” interventions on children. As a result, the lives of countless children and their families are being destroyed at the hands of a multi-billion-dollar industry that prioritizes profits over health. The rapid expansion of the Medical Mutilation Industry represents a tremendous threat to our national identity, security and future. To address this growing threat, our lawmakers must take critical action by passing legislation that protects the Nation’s children and holds rogue doctors accountable for their crimes against humanity.

It is clear that SB1 is a proper exercise of the police power of the State of Tennessee to regulate these dangerous interventions to protect Tennessee minors from the tragically predictable consequences of medical mutilation. This exercise of state police power is similar to the longstanding and accepted state regulation of abortions, female genital mutilations, psychosurgery, shock treatments, lobotomies, child sterilizations, assisted suicides, euthanasia and even tattoos. As the medical harms of these “treatments” are well documented, state regulation is not only completely lawful and appropriate, it is mandatory.

AFLDS Attorney David Dalia states, “There’s an alarming likelihood that these minor children will bitterly regret these mutilations. Studies show that as many as 85% of children grow out of gender dysphoria! As I learned the reality of ‘gender-affirming care,’ I became appalled. These surgeries and treatments are  grotesque, and lead to a lifetime of medications, medical complications, repeat surgeries and regret. Surgeon Dr. Eithan Haim said: ‘they are offering a physiological solution to a psychological problem.’ States routinely regulate other dangerous surgeries and treatments like psychosurgery, child sterilizations, genital mutilations and euthanasia. I urge everyone to study the grisly facts and research about the medical mutilation of minors, as exposed by Tennessee, Alabama, twenty two other states, America’s Frontline Doctors, and 51 amici curiae groups all supporting the State of Tennessee in the Skrmetti case. Tennessee’s lawful exercise of its police power to protect minor children from lifetime mutilations should be strongly affirmed. The age of majority should be required for any such drastic decisions.”

AFLDS Founder and President Dr. Simone Gold added, “Our laws on the books for informed consent are very clear and must be enforced. Children cannot give informed consent. This responsibility has been entrusted to the parent. However, there is no common law precedent that allows someone to consent to the medical mutilation of another. No third party, not parent nor government, can empower a minor to consent to medical mutilation. All of the childhood procedures happening right now are illegal because no person can legally grant ‘permission’ to cause lifelong health complications and sterility for another person.” 

This historic case will be argued in front of the Supreme Court in the coming months. AFLDS recognizes that if SCOTUS sides with the federal government and strikes down Tennessee's law, a precedent will be set that will endanger the lives of countless young Americans. The High Court must not lose sight of what is at stake: the health and safety of our Nation’s children. 

Stay tuned - We will keep you updated on the status of this case and our efforts to end the medical mutilation of children.  

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About AFLDS

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Media Contact Lisa Alexander, Communications Director | Media@AFLDS.org