WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing Idaho to enforce its ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth while lawsuits over the law proceed, reversing lower courts.

The justices’ order Monday allows the state to put in a place a 2023 law that subjects physicians to up to 10 years in prison if they provide hormones, puberty blockers or other gender-affirming care to people under age 18. Under the court’s order, the two transgender teens who sued to challenge the law still will be able to obtain care.

The court’s three liberal justices would have kept the law on hold.

A federal judge in Idaho had blocked the law in its entirety after determining that it was necessary to do so to protect the teens, who are identified under pseudonyms in court papers.

Opponents of the law have said it will likely increase suicide rates among teens. The law’s backers have said it is necessary to “protect children” from medical or surgical treatments for gender dysphoria, though there’s little indication that gender-affirming surgeries are being performed on transgender youth in Idaho.

Gender-affirming care for youth is supported by every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association.

Medical professionals define gender dysphoria as severe psychological distress experienced by those whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth.

The action comes as the justices also may soon consider whether to take up bans in Kentucky and Tennessee that an appeals court allowed to be enforced in the midst of legal fights.

At least 23 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states face lawsuits. A federal judge struck down Arkansas’ ban as unconstitutional. Montana’s ban also is temporarily on hold.

The states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

By STEPHEN GROVES and LISA MASCARO (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson left uncertain his plan for advancing aid for Israel and Ukraine on Monday, keeping the future of the funding in doubt as lawmakers returned to Washington for a crucial week of foreign policy work.

Iran’s missile and drone strike against Israel over the weekend put renewed pressure on House Republicans to act on a national security package that would send military support to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. But after mulling for two months how to advance such a package through the political divides in the House, Johnson has revealed little of his strategy, including whether he will try to push the funding for Israel separately or keep it packaged with the aid for the other U.S. allies.

As the House has struggled to act, conflicts around the globe have escalated. Israel’s military chief said Monday that Israel will respond to Iran’s weekend missile strike. And Ukraine’s military head over the weekend warned that the battlefield situation in the country’s east has “significantly worsened in recent days,” as warming weather has allowed Russian forces to launch a fresh offensive.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, hosting Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the White House, called on the House to take up the funding package immediately. “They have to do it now,” he said.

Senior Republicans were also growing impatient after Johnson had offered them assurances that he would bring Ukraine aid to the floor. Many have expected him to make that move before the House takes a recess next week. But with no plan set, time was running short for Johnson, who is learning the job of speaker as he goes.

The speaker planned to huddle with his fellow House Republicans on Monday evening. But the meeting will be filled with lawmakers strongly opposed on Ukraine: Republican defense hawks, including the top lawmakers on national security committees, who want Johnson to finally take up the national security supplemental package as a bundle, are pitted against populist conservatives who are fiercely opposed to continued support for Kyiv’s fight at all.

Ahead of the meeting on Monday, Johnson revealed little on his decision after saying over the weekend that he would bring Israel aid to the floor this week. Johnson has expressed support for aiding Ukraine, but ignored questions from reporters on Monday about whether he would bundle funding for the two nations together. The House was also preparing this week to take up a series of bills aimed at sanctioning Iran.

“The House must rush to Israel’s aid as quickly as humanly possible, and the only way to do that is passing the Senate’s supplemental ASAP,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Meanwhile, the White House would “oppose” a standalone bill that only addresses aid for Israel, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday. Democratic leaders are pressuring Johnson to take up a Senate-passed bill that would provide a total of $95 billion for the U.S. allies, as well as humanitarian support for civilians in Gaza and Ukraine.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries pledged in a letter to lawmakers to do “everything in our legislative power to confront aggression” around the globe, and he cast the situation as similar to the lead-up to World War II.

“The gravely serious events of this past weekend in the Middle East and Eastern Europe underscore the need for Congress to act immediately,” Jeffries said. “We must take up the bipartisan and comprehensive national security bill passed by the Senate forthwith. This is a Churchill or Chamberlain moment.”

During a private meeting last week, two senior Democrats, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita, and Rep. Steny Hoyer, the former No. 2 leader, encouraged their Democratic colleagues to sign on to a discharge petition that could force the House to vote on the Senate aid package.

Pelosi and Hoyer told the Democratic lawmakers that even if they oppose the bill, they could still sign the discharge petition to at least push the package to the floor — and then vote against it later. The leaders’ message was confirmed by two people familiar with the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

So far, 195 lawmakers have signed on to the discharge petition, about a dozen shy of the majority needed to force action on the floor. Many of the progressive Democrats holding out from signing the petition are against U.S. aid to Israel due to the Netanyahu government’s assault on Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians.

On the right, the House Freedom Caucus said Monday that it opposed “using the emergency situation in Israel as a bogus justification to ram through Ukraine aid with no offset and no security for our own wide-open borders.”

The political divides on foreign aid have so far flummoxed Johnson, who rose from the lower ranks of House leadership to become speaker after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was abruptly ousted late last year.

Now Johnson is facing the same threat. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, has ratcheted up the political pressure on Johnson by threatening to oust him from the speaker’s office if he puts aid to Ukraine on the floor.

Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson is not in Minnesota with some of his teammates reporting to TCO Performance Center in Eagan for voluntary workouts.

His absence isn’t surprising given that many players throughout the NFL decide to skip voluntary workouts. Add in the fact that Jefferson is still waiting to sign a historic contract extension, and frankly, it might have been more surprising if he was present.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell doesn’t sound too concerned, nor should he be at this point. It feels like only a matter of time before the Vikings come to the table and make Jefferson the highest-paid receiver in the league. That’s something everybody should remind themselves over the next couple of months regardless of what happens.

“I’ve had a lot of great dialogue with Justin throughout even the early part of this offseason and leading up,” O’Connell said. “My hope is we can get him around the team because he’s obviously such a special player.”

As he plays out the final year of his rookie contract, Jefferson is set to make $19.74 million. He’s likely searching for a contract extension that will pay him north of $30 million annually, which would put him above Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill, who has an average annual value of $30 million.

It’s worth noting that Jefferson missed voluntary workouts in the spring last year before showing up for the mandatory minicamp. He also fully participated in training camp in the summer despite not being able to come to an agreement on a contract extension at the time.

Is there a chance Jefferson could return to voluntary workouts?

“He is not here today,” O’Connell said. “It remains to be seen kind of what the rest of the program looks like.”

Though it sounds as if O’Connell is leaving the door open, he has to know deep down that it would be shocking if Jefferson participated in anything this offseason without signing his contract extension. There’s no reason for him to risk injury of any sort when he’s about to earn a massive pay raise.

“We want him here as much as we can have him,” O’Connell said. “We also understand there’s a lot of factors involved. There’s nobody I love having around more on a daily basis because of how he elevates others. He’s truly a special, special player.”

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“My search for legal representation was exhausting. I visited 16 different attorneys before I was able to secure representation. Each denial delivered a wave of hopelessness as I felt the looming 12-month deadline to apply for asylum inch closer and closer.”

CityViews are readers’ opinions, not those of City Limits. Add your voice today!

In 2017, my life was completely different. I lived in El Salvador, the only country I’ve ever called home. I loved El Salvador but core parts of my identity made me no longer welcome. My gender and sexual identity turned me into an outsider and the victim of relentless discrimination and death threats. That’s why I made the difficult decision to leave my friends and family behind to find safety. After a yearlong journey, I finally declared asylum in the United States in 2022 and my life changed forever.

Seeking asylum was not an easy decision. To the more than 100,000 asylum seekers who’ve recently arrived in New York City, this journey is a leap of faith. Violence and persecution forced us to leave our loved ones behind in the hope that we could find safety and stability in the United States. We arrived with little to no money, and most of us don’t yet speak English fluently. We’re here because the United States and the Statue of Liberty are global symbols of hope and freedom, having welcomed generations of immigrants in search of refuge before us.

Life in the United States means I can be my true self. Shortly after arriving in New York, I began gender affirming care and introduced myself to the world as Bruneth. Here, I can express myself as I’ve always wanted to and wear clothes and accessories that finally make me feel comfortable in my own skin. 

And while I’m so excited about the life I’m just beginning to build here, I never realized just how difficult it would be to apply for asylum and seek legal assistance. Despite our limited knowledge of this country, the language, and the legal system, asylum seekers are required to file complex paperwork and represent ourselves in court if we cannot afford an attorney.

My search for legal representation was exhausting. I visited 16 different attorneys before I was able to secure representation. Each denial delivered a wave of hopelessness as I felt the looming 12-month deadline to apply for asylum inch closer and closer. Finally, on my 17th attempt, I found a pro-bono attorney willing to take on my case.

This legal representation has been a game changer. I’m proud to share that my asylum case is moving forward and I have recently received my work authorization. I am now a Peer Navigator with the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP) where I accompany and lend emotional support to asylum seekers who are just starting their cases. I’m well aware that while I finally have the tools to plant my roots here, access to an attorney remains out of reach for too many asylum seekers.

That’s why I’m proud to stand with the New York Immigration Coalition and the Campaign for Access, Representation and Equality (CARE) for Immigrant Families in support of the Access to Representation Act (ARA). This historic bill would guarantee access to an attorney to all New Yorkers navigating the immigration court system. Studies show that immigrants in detention are 10 times more likely to prove their right to remain in the United States if they have representation than those without any counsel.

The ARA is an investment in the entire legal system, boosting capacity for many service providers who are currently overworked and stretched thin with massive caseloads. The bill would increase the capacity of these providers so that no one would have to experience the 16 rejections that I did. No one will have to lose hope.

The ARA will give us a fighting chance to stay in a country we risked everything to get to. I’m sharing my story because I believe we can build a better future for asylum seekers and this country. I believe in the American promise of freedom and due process; the Access to Representation Act delivers just that.

I urge Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers in Albany to invest $150 million dollars to support this bill and ensure New York continues to live up to its status as a beacon of hope to those who need it most. 

Bruneth Flores is an asylum seeker from El Salvador who currently lives in The Bronx. She is a member of the Campaign for Access, Representation & Equity (CARE) for Immigrant Families coalition.