For Immediate Release
June 18, 2025
BREAKING: Supreme Court Says FPA’s Help Not Harm Laws are CONSTITUTIONAL
SCOTUS knows what a woman is
Today, the Supreme Court ruled that Tennessee’s Help Not Harm law, Senate Bill 1, which protects children from dangerous and irreversible “gender transition” procedures, is constitutional and can remain in effect. The law holds healthcare professionals accountable by providing child victims an opportunity to sue for damages. This ruling represents a major win for Family Policy Alliance, which drafted the first Help Not Harm law in 2017 and has worked tirelessly with its national alliance of nearly 40 state-based policy councils to pass these laws in 25 states.
The United States under the former Biden Administration, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), had sued Tennessee to invalidate the law, arguing that it discriminates against Tennesseans on the basis of sex. But the Supreme Court didn’t buy that argument, because SB 1 applies to all children equally. In a 6-3 majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that gender identity is not an immutable characteristic, as well as confirmed the biological reality that only women can become pregnant.
Craig DeRoche, president and CEO of Family Policy Alliance (FPA), responded:
“We rejoice that the Supreme Court has validated what Family Policy Alliance has been working on for over eight years: that children cannot consent to these irreversibly harmful drugs and procedures, and that states have an obligation to protect them. This ruling is the latest sign that the tide has turned irrevocably against gender ideology.
“This is what our Help Not Harm campaign has always been about: ensuring children struggling with who God made them are protected from this harm. We wrote the original model act SB 1 is based on, and started a campaign around it, so gender-dysphoric children can finally receive the protection and real help they need. We are so grateful to the Supreme Court for correctly ruling that SB 1 and the other 24 state Help Not Harm laws are constitutionally sound. We have known it since we drafted the original model law, and we have been looking forward to this day of vindication for children for years.
“America continues to wake up to the threat gender ideology poses to our kids and families. And as we rejoice in this historic victory, we at FPA resolve, along with our state family policy council allies, that we will not rest until every state and the federal government protect our kids with a Help Not Harm law!”
FPA began work on protecting minors from transgender interventions in 2017, when the group first drafted an early version of what is now the Help Not Harm Act. In 2021, FPA launched its Help Not Harm campaign following the passage of Arkansas’s SAFE Act (the first successful bill in the nation to offer these protections).
To date, 25 states have Help Not Harm-like laws (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming).
Media Contact:
Robert Noland, (719) 308-2822, Media@FamilyPolicyAlliance.com
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Family Policy Alliance advances biblical values through civic engagement for a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished.