18-06-2025
What does upholding Tennesee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors mean for similar bills in N.H.?
New Hampshire
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If either becomes law, New Hampshire would be the first state in New England to enact such bans, joining 25 other states that have banned such care for youth, according to the
that provides research to promote equality.
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Erchull said the US Supreme Court
ruling finds that a ban on medical care for minors is not sex-based discrimination, but rather a regulation of medical procedures based on age. He disagrees, and notes that
legal avenues are still available to challenge HB 377 should it become law in New Hampshire. That could include a challenge based on the New Hampshire constitution, arguing that the intent of the law was to harm transgender people, or a challenge on the basis of parental rights.
'It's legislation that very clearly impacts a family's ability, a parent's ability, to make important decisions with medical consultation about how to care for their children,' he said. 'And this is coming from the same exact people, the same exact legislators who tout
National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director
'Healthcare decisions belong with families, not politicians. This decision will cause real harm,' he said.
Some New Hampshire Republicans celebrated the US Supreme Court decision.
'I applaud Tennessee for protecting children from irreversible harm by banning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors,' said New Hampshire state
Representative Sayra DeVito, a Danville Republican who is a co-sponsor of HB 377.
'Children deserve the chance to grow, mature, and fully understand themselves before making permanent decisions about their bodies,' DeVito said in a statement. 'There's no discrimination in protecting children. Tennessee is leading with courage and common sense.'
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Representative Erica Layon, a Derry Republican, said she hoped the Supreme Court's decision would 'bring reason back to healthcare for young people.'
'I believe that history will view these surgeries as just as harmful as other conversion therapies practiced in the past upon gay, lesbian and bisexual youth,' she said.
Democrats in New Hampshire, however, are criticizing the decision. House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter said the decision cuts off parents' access to critical, evidence-based treatment for their children.
'These attacks aren't about protecting kids, they're actively putting lives at risk, with anti-trans laws tied to a
New Hampshire families with transgender children had been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Supreme Court case.
Rosie Emrich sits for a portrait with her eight-year-old transgender child at their house in Hooksett, N.H., on April 17, 2025. Emrich said that her family is considering moving from New Hampshire to Massachusetts because of a series of bills that could limit her child's ability to access gender-affirming care.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Rosie Emrich, who has a transgender child said the US Supreme Court's
decision was 'heartbreaking.'
'I feel sort of gutted,' she said. 'I think maybe I let myself get a little too hopeful.'
Emrich has been weighing whether
For now, she said,
she plans to focus her attention on urging New Hampshire's Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte to veto HB 377.
'It does definitely bring a lot bigger sense of urgency to the stuff going on here in New Hampshire and the push to try to have the governor hear the impacts of this,' she said.
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Lawmakers from the House and Senate met this week for negotiations over which version of HB 377 should proceed. The House has agreed to the Senate's position on the bill, and lawmakers have until Thursday afternoon to sign off
Ayotte has not said if she supports a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at
