Justice Clarence Thomas’s shunning of “experts” defending gender-affirming care is delighting conservatives in their assault on liberal influence in academics and medicine, a mission now reaching the courts.

The conservative justice argued in a solo opinion concurring with the court’s 6-3 decision to uphold Tennessee’s transgender youth care ban that so-called experts have jumped on the bandwagon to embrace such treatment while evidence to the contrary mounts.

“This case carries a simple lesson: In politically contentious debates over matters shrouded in scientific uncertainty, courts should not assume that self-described experts are correct,” Thomas wrote.

Thomas’s opinion quickly garnered the attention of prominent Republicans, including Vice President Vance, who made his debut on liberal social media platform Bluesky by complimenting the opinion as “quite illuminating.”

“I might add that many of those scientists are receiving substantial resources from big pharma to push these medicines on kids. What do you think?” Vance wrote Thursday, quickly sparking thousands of replies dripping with snark.

Since Trump has taken office, his administration has abandoned President Biden’s defense of gender-affirming care. Trump’s Justice Department dropped the legal challenge to Tennessee’s ban, and in May, his Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared there is a “lack of robust evidence” for the treatments.

In a New York Times opinion piece following the Supreme Court ruling, the mother of the transgender teen who challenged Tennessee’s law mourned the decision to block care for her daughter.

“I am deeply afraid for what this decision will unleash — politically and socially,” Samantha Williams wrote. “Now that the Supreme Court has denied the rights of young people like my daughter and families like ours, what’s next?”

Major American medical groups have said gender-affirming care for transgender youth and adults is medically necessary.

© The Hill