• Posted June 27, 2025

From Transgender Care To Vaping: Key Takeaways From SCOTUS 2025 Term

From allowing states to ban gender-transition care and sales of flavored vapes to minors to rolling back the landmark Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court had a consequential term.

The Washington Post cites these as among the high court’s most consequential decisions of 2025:

Birthright citizenship: In a 6-3 ruling, with three liberal justices in dissent, the court backed President Donald Trump’s bid to scale back lower court orders that have repeatedly blocked his ban on automatic citizenship for U.S.-born babies of undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors.

While the ruling is a big win for Trump’s efforts to restrict immigration, the Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the ban itself, The Washington Post reported.

Several states had challenged an executive order signed by Trump imposing a ban. They argued that it conflicts with U.S. history, the 14th Amendment and past court rulings.

Preventive health-care coverage: The court upheld a provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires health insurers to provide free preventive care to millions of Americans. The Christian-owned business and others who brought the case argued that having to cover meds to prevent the spread of HIV encourages risky behavior that conflicts with their religious beliefs, The Post reported.

Opting-out of books on sexuality and gender: The court ruled 6-3 that parents can opt-out of public school lessons using books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes. Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland had objected to these lessons, and the court ruled that they are entitled to opt-out under Constitution’s free exercise of religion clause. The Washington Post reported that the ruling is a significant expansion of a long-standing practice of allowing parents to opt-out of reproductive-health classes.

Access to online porn: In another 6-3 vote, with the liberal justices in dissent, the court paved the way for states to require visitors to online porn sites to prove they are 18 or over to gain access. A free-speech coalition had challenged Texas' age verification law.

Gender-transition care: In a 6-3 split, the Court let stand a Tennessee law barring minors from using puberty blockers and hormones for gender transition. The court ruled that states have wide leeway to enact laws in areas of "medical and scientific uncertainty," The Post explained. The ruling paves the way for state laws barring gender transition care; in recent years, almost half of states have enacted such laws.

Flavored vapes: The court unanimously upheld action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which rejected two companies’ applications to sell dessert- and candy-flavored liquids for e-cigarettes that are popular amongst youths. Vaping is the most popular form of tobacco use among young people.

Water regulations: The court split again, 6-3, on a ruling that curbs powers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate pollution. Justices ruled that the EPA requirements for cities and businesses seeking to discharge pollutants into bodies of water were so vague it was impossible for them to know when they had crossed the line, The Post said. The case originated in San Francisco. It sued after being found in violation of a permit allowing it to release sewage into the Pacific Ocean.

Religious schools: The justices deadlocked, 4-4, on constitutionality of the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school. Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the decision, and justices did not reveal their votes, according to The Post. The ruling upholds a decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which ruled the school violated state law and the Constitutional separation of church and state.

More information

The high court’s decisions are posted online at Supreme Court of the United States.

SOURCES: The Washington Post, June 20 and 27, 2025; The New York Times, June 27, 2025