Dear Friends,
TODAY the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear the Biden Administration’s challenge to a court decision upholding two Help Not Harm laws, a case called United States v. Skrmetti.Â
Let me be clear: this is one of the most important cases for protecting vulnerable children since the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. We believe the Supreme Court will rule that it is Constitutional for Tennessee and Kentucky to protect children struggling with gender dysphoria from being pumped full of cross-sex hormones or being irreversibly sexually mutilated. Such a ruling will also mean the other 21 Help Not Harm laws around the country are also Constitutional.
As you may know, in 2017 Family Policy Alliance led the way in the pro-family movement by drafting the very first piece of model legislation protecting kids struggling with gender dysphoria from irreversibly harmful sex change procedures, including cross-sex hormones, puberty-blockers, and mutilating surgeries. We called it the model Help Not Harm Act. Since then, we have seen 23 states enact a law based on this model legislation.
Many of these laws have been challenged in court, and most have endured those challenges in various Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. One of those Circuits is the Sixth Circuit Court: it affirmed the rights of Tennessee and Kentucky to protect vulnerable children from these barbaric procedures through Help Not Harm laws. With your support and prayers, Family Policy Alliance and our network of state Family Policy Councils (FPCs) have led the way in this legal and cultural battle to protect children struggling to come to terms with the fearful and wonderful way God made them as male or female. We have been joined crucially in this effort by numerous state, national, and international allies, who have done essential work in partnership with our coalition in this effort.
Together, all of us have turned the tide on this issue and made clear to our country, and now the Supreme Court, that struggling children deserve REAL HELP, not the harm of euphemistically named “gender-affirming” procedures. We look forward to the Court’s ruling, likely in June of 2025, and we ask that you join us in prayer for them and their clerks: that God would lead them in wisdom to affirm the noble effort of the Help Not Harm movement to protect children.
We will keep you informed every step of the way on this journey from today’s grant of cert, to oral arguments before the Court, to the final decision the Court hands down next year. Until then, celebrate this monumental moment with us in praise to God, and continue to support and pray for us as we keep up the fight to ensure vulnerable children receive real help, not harm.
Sincerely,
Joseph Kohm, III
Director, Public Policy