A Supreme Court Justice triggered backlash after she compared the case weighing in on states banning gender transitions for minors to past state laws of banning interracial marriage

There was a clarifying moment late in Wednesday’s two-and-a-half-hour-long oral argument in United States v. Skrmetti, a history-making challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

The Supreme Court appeared likely to back a divisive Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming care for minors after more than two hours of oral arguments on Wednesday in which the court delved into a culture war battle that has become even more politically fraught since the election.