Supreme Court Upholds Transgender Medical Care Ban in Historic Ruling
The most significant civil rights case of twenty twenty-five sent shockwaves through the nation when the Supreme Court delivered its decision on June eighteenth. The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 to uphold the Sixth Circuit’s determination that Tennessee’s law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause. The justices’ 6-3 decision in a case from Tennessee effectively protects from legal challenges many efforts by President Donald Trump’s Republican administration and state governments to roll back protections for transgender people.
The ruling in United States v. Skrmetti marked a devastating blow to transgender rights advocates who had hoped for constitutional protection. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing in a dissent joined by the court’s other liberal justices, condemned the ruling, saying the majority “abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.” Another 26 states have laws similar to the one in Tennessee.
Abortion Rights Triumph in Seven States Despite Presidential Election Setback
Abortion rights ballot measures passed in 7 of 10 states during the November 2024 election. These victories represented a powerful demonstration of grassroots democracy in action, with voters directly choosing to protect reproductive freedom. Approval in Missouri marks the first time voters in a state with a total abortion ban successfully amended their state constitution to protect reproductive freedom. The Missouri victory was particularly historic because it proved that even in deeply conservative states, voters supported abortion access when given the chance.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, the following states passed abortion rights ballot measures: Arizona: Proposition 139 (Right to Abortion Initiative) Colorado: Amendment 79 (Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative) Maryland: Question 1 (Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment) Missouri: Amendment 3 (Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative) The success of these measures showed that abortion rights remained a winning issue even in a challenging political environment.
Court Strikes Down Arizona’s Fifteen-Week Abortion Ban
Arizona witnessed a significant judicial victory when reproductive rights advocates successfully challenged the state’s restrictive abortion laws. Today, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge permanently blocked the state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The case, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, asserts that the ban is unconstitutional because it denies Arizonans’ access to abortion care in violation of the state’s 2024 constitutional amendment protecting the fundamental right to abortion.
The ruling demonstrated how ballot measures could translate into real-world legal victories. The stipulation allowed doctors across the state to begin providing care after 15 weeks of pregnancy shortly after Proposition 139, the Arizona Abortion Access Act, was certified and added to the state constitution. The Arizona Abortion Access Act (Proposition 139) restored Arizonans’ right to control their own bodies and medical decisions, enshrining the right to abortion into the state constitution.
Supreme Court Rejects National Abortion Pill Restrictions
In a major victory for reproductive rights, the Supreme Court refused to restrict access to mifepristone, the abortion pill used in more than half of all American abortions. The court ruled against anti-abortion groups on a technicality, but extremist politicians have vowed to continue efforts to restrict access to abortion nationwide. With more than 600,000 abortions in America per year, mifepristone is used in over 300,000 of them—highlighting the high stakes in the Supreme Court decision.
The decision provided crucial breathing room for abortion access nationwide, particularly in states where clinic-based abortions were heavily restricted. The ruling preserved an essential pathway for women seeking reproductive healthcare, even as political battles continued to rage at the state level.
Ohio’s Constitutional Amendment Becomes Model for Reproductive Freedom
In Ohio, voters approved a state constitutional amendment to end an extreme abortion ban and ensure Ohioans have the right to make their own decisions about pregnancy, including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care. The Ohio victory was particularly significant because it occurred in a competitive swing state with a Republican-controlled legislature. The ACLU has played a key role in the undefeated streak for abortion ballot measures since Roe was overturned, including in Ohio where we were deeply involved in supporting the ballot measure at every step, from the exploration phase through getting out the vote.
The ACLU, as well as the ACLU of Ohio and other ACLU affiliates, collectively invested more than $6 million to support the ballot measure in Ohio and provided strategic expertise across different areas of the campaign, including around organizing, policy, and communications. The massive grassroots mobilization effort showed how civil rights organizations could effectively channel public support into concrete legal victories.
First Amendment Protections Expanded for Religious Viewpoints
The Supreme Court strengthened First Amendment protections for religious expression in several key cases throughout the twenty twenty-four term. And while the justices declined to hear several provocative free speech cases — prompting sharp dissents from Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — they signaled a continuing willingness to protect unpopular or disfavored viewpoints, particularly where government policy or cultural orthodoxy chills the rights of religious traditionalists.
In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the court also held that parents must be given notice and the option to opt out of classes where teachers read books celebrating gay marriage, inconsistent with parents’ religious views. The court granted an emergency application for an injunction pending appeal, restoring Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby’s voting rights after she was censured and barred from voting by the Maine House of Representatives.
Reproductive Freedom Advocates Win Critical Senate and State Races
Despite the challenging political environment, pro-choice candidates secured important victories in key races across the country. Reproductive freedom candidates secured key victories in the U.S. Senate including the re-elections of Senators Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin) and Jacky Rosen (Nevada), and Senators-elect Ruben Gallego (Arizona) and Elissa Slotkin (Michigan). We won key state supreme court justices seats: Michigan’s Kimberly Ann Thomas and Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, and Judge Katherine Bidegaray in Montana.
These victories proved crucial for maintaining legal challenges to restrictive laws and ensuring that reproductive rights remained protected at the state level. The success of these candidates demonstrated that voters continued to prioritize civil rights issues even in a challenging political climate.
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Advances Death Penalty Reform
In a landmark Racial Justice Act hearing, we’ll be arguing that racial discrimination tainted the death sentence of Hasson Bacote, who was sentenced to death by a jury of 10 white and two Black jurors in a case where the prosecution struck three times more Black jurors than white jurors. Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the first-of-its kind law, the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA).
The case represented a groundbreaking effort to address systemic racism in capital punishment. This is all happening in Johnston County, the site of at least four lynchings between Reconstruction and World War I, and where KKK billboards were proudly displayed through the 1970s. The case could pave the way for others on North Carolina’s death row to challenge their sentences.
Virginia Voters Reject Abortion Ban Attempt
In Virginia, by electing a pro-abortion rights majority in the state Senate, voters repudiated an attempt to pass a 15-week abortion ban. The Virginia victory was particularly significant because it occurred in a state that had been trending purple politically, showing that reproductive rights could be a decisive issue in competitive races.
The election results in Virginia demonstrated how abortion rights could mobilize voters across party lines. Democratic candidates who ran on protecting reproductive freedom were able to overcome gerrymandered districts and motivated opposition by speaking directly to voters’ concerns about government overreach in healthcare decisions.
Emergency Medical Care Protections Preserved in Federal Court
Idaho and Moyle, et al. v. United States was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Idaho politicians seeking to disregard a federal statute — the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) — and put doctors in jail for providing pregnant patients necessary emergency medical care. The Court’s ultimate decision will impact access to this essential care across the country.
The case highlighted the ongoing conflict between state abortion bans and federal requirements for emergency medical care. Healthcare providers found themselves caught between state laws threatening criminal prosecution and federal laws requiring them to provide life-saving care to patients in emergency situations.
Transgender Rights Face Setbacks Across Multiple States
The Supreme Court has thrown out appellate rulings in favor of transgender people in four states following the justices’ recent decision upholding a Tennessee ban on certain medical treatment for transgender youths. The justices ordered the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, to review its decision that West Virginia’s and North Carolina’s refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory.
The cascade of legal reversals following the Tennessee decision illustrated how Supreme Court precedent can rapidly reshape the civil rights landscape. The rulings all included findings that the restrictions on transgender people imposed by the states violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The earlier 6-3 Tennessee ruling on June 18 came along ideological lines in U.S. v. Skrmetti, and effectively protects from legal challenges many efforts by the Trump administration and state governments to roll back protections for transgender people.
Florida’s Abortion Amendment Falls Short Despite Majority Support
In Florida, which bans abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, the measure received 57% of the vote, just short of the 60% threshold needed to pass. While Florida’s abortion ballot measure didn’t pass (because it needed to reach a 60% threshold), the majority of Floridians (57%!) did vote to protect abortion access.
The Florida result demonstrated both the strength of support for abortion rights and the challenges posed by supermajority requirements for constitutional amendments. As a result, Floridians “must continue to live with the fear, uncertainty, and denial of care caused by the reversal of Roe,” said Northup. The near-miss in Florida highlighted how procedural barriers could thwart majority will on civil rights issues.
Civil Rights Organizations Mobilize Against Project 2025
Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. In a series of seven memos, the ACLU details the civil rights and civil liberties challenges that a second Trump presidency will present and provides a roadmap for how we will fight to protect and expand the freedom of all people.
Civil rights organizations prepared comprehensive strategies to counter anticipated rollbacks of constitutional protections. This includes: Going to court to preserve and advance the rights of immigrants, LGBTQ rights, abortion access, nondiscrimination laws, voting rights, and the free speech of all people The mobilization effort represented one of the largest coordinated civil rights responses in recent history.
Conclusion
The civil rights landscape of twenty twenty-four and twenty twenty-five revealed both the resilience of democratic institutions and the fragility of constitutional protections. While reproductive rights advocates achieved remarkable victories through ballot measures and court challenges, transgender Americans faced unprecedented setbacks through coordinated legal attacks. The Supreme Court’s decisions this term will reshape civil rights law for generations, creating new precedents that will influence countless future cases.
These victories and defeats remind us that civil rights progress is never guaranteed and requires constant vigilance. From Arizona’s courtrooms to Ohio’s ballot boxes, from Virginia’s state senate to Tennessee’s Supreme Court arguments, ordinary Americans proved that they remain willing to fight for fundamental freedoms. What would you have expected from such a turbulent period in American civil rights history?
