The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams.

At least half of the states in the nation have bans on transgender students competing in sports according to their gender identity, a USA TODAY review of state laws and policy documents found.

For over three hours, the justices waded through exceedingly technical debates and hypotheticals as they tried to assess whether the bans enacted by Idaho and West Virginia are consistent with the 14t...