A lone Texas Supreme Court justice on Friday dissented from the all-Republican court's recent decision to uphold the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

Texas is among 25 states that have enacted laws or policies prohibiting gender reassignment surgery on anyone under 18. Enacted in May 2023, Texas' ban prohibits health care providers from performing certain procedures and treatments for sex reassignment, gender reassignment, or gender dysphoria. It also prohibits the use of public funds or assistance to perform these procedures and treatments.

In an 8-1 decision on Friday, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court's decision to block the ban pending legal challenges. The court's majority wrote in their decision, “We conclude that the Legislature made a permissible, reasonable policy decision to limit the types of medical procedures available to children, particularly given the relative newness of both gender dysphoria and its various treatments and the Legislature's express constitutional authority to regulate the practice of medicine.”

Justice Debra Lehrmann was the only judge to dissent. In her opinion, she wrote, “While I agree that the legislature has the general authority to regulate the practice of medicine, that authority is necessarily limited by the promises and protections of our Constitution. In fact, limiting government interference in private affairs is the very reason for the Bill of Rights.”

Lehrmann added: “Even when the legislature exercises its delegated powers, it does so with due regard for the constitutional rights of citizens – and not the other way around. If the legislature's laws violate fundamental freedom interests, these laws must be subjected to the appropriate constitutional review.”

She also argued that parental rights could be violated by this decision, writing, “The right of parents to make medical decisions for the benefit of their children, in consultation with their physicians, surely deserves more constitutional protection than the Court recognizes today. What is troubling is that the Court's opinion puts all parental decisions at risk of being overturned by the government.”

Newsweek has emailed the Texas Supreme Court seeking comment.

The office of Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott celebrated the court's decision.

Abbott's press secretary Andrew Mahaleris told CNN on Friday that the ban “protects children from making permanent, life-changing decisions before they have the mental capacity to do so.”

Mahaleris continued, “Governor Abbott will continue to work with the Legislature to do everything possible to protect the children of Texas and their bright future.”

Meanwhile, Karen Loewy, senior counsel and head of the constitutional law practice at Lambda Legal – a civil rights group focused on LGBTQ+ issues that filed suit in a failed attempt to block enforcement of the ban – said in a statement on Friday: “The devastating impact of this ruling on transgender youth in Texas and the families who love and support them cannot be overstated.”

“Instead of leaving medical decisions about minor children where they belong, with their parents and their doctors, the Court here has chosen to let politicians decide the permissible treatment method – in blatant disregard of the overwhelming medical consensus – and thereby endanger the health and lives of transgender youth in Texas,” Loewy said, pledging to “continue to fight” these types of bans.