Advocates said the high court's decision to uphold state bans on gender-affirming care is a major blow to transgender rights.

The conservative Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to transgender Americans on Wednesday, issuing a sweeping decision that may have implications beyond the medical care that was at center of one of the court’s highest-profile disputes this year.

The justices ruled that Tennessee’s law, which prohibited some medical treatments for transgender youths, did not violate equal protection principles.