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…
