The Supreme Court declined to hear the case of an Indiana couple whose son was taken from their home after they refused to let him undergo a purported “gender transition.”

Officials at the Indiana Department of Child Services launched an investigation in 2021 into Jeremy and Mary Cox, who have Roman Catholic convictions about sexual ethics, two years after their son started to claim identity as a female. The agency took custody of the boy and placed him into a home that would support his new “gender identity,” while the state only allowed the parents to see him periodically even after they dropped neglect charges.

The Coxes appealed to the Supreme Court after the Indiana Supreme Court likewise declined to hear the case. They said in a joint statement released through the Indiana Family Institute that “no other loving parents should have to endure what we did.”

“The pain of having our son taken from our home and kept from our care because of our beliefs will stay with us forever,” the couple commented. “We can’t change the past, but we will continue to fight for a future where parents of faith can raise their children without fear of state officials knocking on their doors and taking their children.”

Indiana Family Institute general counsel Joshua Hershberger and Becket senior counsel Lori Windham added that they believe the Supreme Court “will ultimately protect this basic right and ensure that parents can raise their children consistent with their religious beliefs.”

Multiple state governments have implemented bans on purported “gender transition” hormones and procedures for minors, while others have protected such practices and advanced laws threatening to remove children from parents who refuse to comply with the procedures. One proposal in Maine would have amended the definition of an “abandoned child” to include one who has been “unable to obtain gender-affirming healthcare,” as well as permit courts to assume “temporary jurisdiction” to ensure he or she can undergo a “gender transition.”