The Supreme Court has taken up a case on whether youth runaways can be given HRT, shelter, and mental health services without their parent’s permission.
The case, International Partners v. Ferguson, was brought by several parents and a right-wing legal group against three Washington State laws governing the legal rights of runaway minors. They argue that the ability of their minor children to access these medical services that the parents don't approve of violates those parent’s constitutional rights.
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Their case is based on the parental rights doctrine, which asserts that parents are the ultimate authority over their children’s bodies and upbringings. This doctrine has consistently been used to suppress the rights of trans and queer children, with it being a primary justification for bans on social transition.
The ability of trans youth to leave their unsupportive parents is currently one of the only ways in which they can legally access HRT. A number of states and cities have laws and statutes allowing runaways to make their own medical choices when their parents are not present.
A number of youth, especially trans youth, rely on these protections to get essential medical services that they would otherwise be barred from by their parents. It also allows them to move to states where their rights are legally protected, rather than being beholden to whatever legal rights they have where their parents happen to live.
Legal Professor Alejandra Caraballo explains that “A broad ruling on this would not only give parents in red states the standing to challenge protective laws in blue states for trans youth, it would decimate the ability for runaway teens to access any medical care in shelters without parental consent, from abortion to vaccines and PrEP.”
The Supreme Court will hear the case during the next court session, and a ruling will be issued by June 2027.
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