No. 25-840October Term 2025Before Arguments
International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc., et al., Petitioners v. Bob Ferguson, Governor of Washington, et al.
from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Case status
- Current stage
- Before Arguments
- Latest event
- Accepted by the Court
- Decision timing
- No window until argument is scheduled.
- What it's about
from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Question presented
Whether parents have standing to challenge a law or policy that deliberately displaces their decision-making role as to "gender transitions" of their children, and in so doing creates present and likely future impediments to their ability to parent their children as they deem best for them.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit / Accepted by the Court
- Area
Supreme Court case awaiting argument
Timing
Expected by late June 2026, if argued this term
The Court granted review but has not yet scheduled oral argument. Once argued, the median case reaches a decision in 94 days. Nearly all cases are decided by the end of the term in which they are argued.
Briefing
What it's about
The Supreme Court will review whether parents may sue over Washington laws on parental notification when a runaway minor seeks gender-affirming care. The parents say the rules and related policies sideline their role in decisions about a child's "gender transitions," but lower federal courts said they lacked standing (the legal right to sue).
Argument
The Court has granted review, but oral argument has not been scheduled. The parents say lower courts wrongly kept them out of court on standing grounds in a challenge to Washington's notification rules.
Impact
This case could decide whether parents can even get into federal court to challenge these kinds of state rules. For example, a parent who says Washington's alternative notification procedures undermine their authority may or may not be allowed to bring the case at all.
What is at stake in International Partners for Ethical Care v. Ferguson?
The justices will decide whether parents have standing (a legal right to sue) over Washington notification rules tied to minors seeking gender-affirming care. The parents say the rules weaken their role in decisions about their children.
Who could feel the effects of this case first?
Parents challenging Washington's rules would be affected first, because the case is about whether they can even get into federal court. It also could matter in similar parental-rights disputes elsewhere.
What happens next in International Partners for Ethical Care v. Ferguson?
Oral argument has not been scheduled. Watch for an argument date or another scheduling move; no decision window is available yet.
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary materials plus reporting.
- Note
- Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 23, 2026
- Method
- Methodology