Tennessee’s Solicitor General Matthew Rice, in response to a question from Justice Brett Kavanaugh about why laws regulating gender-affirming care shouldn’t be left up to the states, makes a comparison between gender-affirming care to the discredited medical practice of lobotomies, or removing a part of the brain to treat mental illnesses.
He falsely claims that lobotomies were widely supported by the medical community in the early 1900’s, and thus gender-affirming care needs to be regulated similarly. As Alejandra Caraballo, attorney and instructor at Harvard Law CyberLaw Clinic, says on BlueSky, leading medical organizations at the time opposed lobotomies, meaning Rice’s comparison is highly inaccurate.
Rice responds to a question by Kavanaugh about why doesn't the state just leave this to states. Rice compares this to lobotomies which is detestable. Notable that the AMA and other health orgs opposed lobotomies and played a role in ending the practice!
— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) December 4, 2024 at 11:19 AM