After the Civil War, the equal protection clause was added to the Constitution as part of the 14th Amendment to protect the rights of black Americans. Simply stated, the equal protection clause provides that every American is to be treated equally under the law. 

In the case United States v. Skrmetti, attorneys representing the U.S. government argued Wednesday before the Supreme Court that the clause in the Constitution prevents states from banning transgender medical treatments for minors. (The case, which comes out of Tennessee, is named after that state’s chief law enforcer, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.)

The problem with the government’s argument, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Sarah Parshall Perry says, is that the high court already has determined that the equal protection clause applies only to immutable characteristics, qualities someone is born with, such as race or nationality. 

“The Supreme Court has never determined that something that is subjective and internal, something that you choose and you act upon, is sufficient for constitutional protection,” Perry says on The Daily Signal’s “Problematic Women” podcast. 

The Supreme Court has been asked to give protection under the equal protection clause to individuals with a certain poverty status or education level, Perry says, but “both times the Supreme Court has said, ‘No way.’” 

The case before the high court follows passage of a Tennessee law banning transgender medical treatments for anyone under 18. Perry predicts that the court will send the issue back to the American people, allowing each state to pass laws regarding minors and such gender treatments. 

Perry joins this episode of “Problematic Women” to discuss the high-profile case and its likely outcome. 

Also on today’s show, we discuss President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden. And later, we sit down with Dr. Ingrid Skop, vice president and director of medical affairs for Charlotte Lozier Institute, to discuss the organization’s recent study on the abortion pill. 

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