The Trump administration was sued Friday by a group of 16 states and the District of Columbia for what they call a “unconstitutional pressure campaign” to prevent hospitals and physicians from offering transgender minors gender-affirming care.
In a statement, Attorney General Letitia James of New York said, “The federal government is conducting a vicious and targeted harassment campaign against providers who provide lawful, lifesaving care to children.” “We will never stop fighting for the dignity, safety, and basic rights of the transgender community.”
Despite the fact that there is no federal legislation that forbids gender-affirming care for children, the case, which was filed in a federal court in Massachusetts, contends that the Trump administration is attempting to enact a de facto nationwide prohibition on such therapy.
At a press conference on Friday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated, “They are definitely trying to chill and coerce and bully and intimidate with threatened criminal prosecution.”
The complaint contends that by issuing subpoenas, threatening criminal prosecution, initiating investigations, and requesting confidential patient data, the White House and Justice Department have intimidated physicians and hospitals.
“The result is an atmosphere of fear and intimidation experienced by transgender individuals, their families and caregivers, and the medical professionals who seek only to provide necessary, lawful care to their patients,” the complaint claims.
Although it is extremely uncommon for transgender minors to undergo surgery, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote that the law that makes it a felony to perform female genital mutilation on anyone under the age of 18 is being used by the Trump administration to threaten legal action against hospitals and providers.
The Department of Justice has also mentioned regulations pertaining to food and drug safety as well as legislation designed to prevent Medicaid fraud. The argument goes that hormone therapy is being abused and is a drug.
Bonta brushed that legal argument aside.
“They are undoubtedly playing politics and waging the culture wars. “Practicing law is what they’re not doing,” Bonta continued.
Federal officials were contacted by NPR for comment. The White House said in an emailed statement that President Trump has the power to halt what it refers to as “mutilation and chemical castration of children.”
The administration anticipates a “ultimate victory” on this matter, the statement continued.
In a case known as PFLAG v. Trump, families of transgender youth sued Trump in early February over care access. The lawsuit is still pending.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association are two professional medical groups that promote the delivery of this care, according to the new complaint.
Republican lawmakers and state attorneys general have contested the suggestions’ foundation, claiming that the supporting data is insufficient.
The Department of Health and Human Services of the Trump administration released its own analysis of the data and came to the conclusion that youth care that is gender affirming should be reduced. Both the AMA and the AAP have maintained their stances.
The Trump administration’s efforts have resulted in the closure of several well-known clinics providing gender-affirming care at children’s hospitals in recent weeks, including one in Los Angeles and another in Washington, D.C.
These closures are taking place in locations where the care is permitted by law.
More than half of the states in the United States have prohibited gender-affirming care for children since 2021. Recently, the Supreme Court declared that Tennessee’s ban was constitutional.
Patients and their parents must drive far farther for care, if they can find it, since hospitals in some rural regions are closing their clinical programs.
Prior to closing its gender clinic in June, Community Medical Center in Missoula, Montana, was the only hospital in the state providing care for transgender adolescents. The regulatory environment at the state and federal levels was mentioned by the hospital.
The families NPR spoke with were not aware of which private pediatricians currently provide this service.
The hospital’s choice felt like a betrayal to some patients and their families.
Liz, an 18-year-old Missoula patient, stated, “I believe it’s their responsibility as healthcare professionals to stand up to this and to say this is care that saves lives, which they didn’t do.” Liz worries about her safety since she is transgender, so NPR decided to just use her first name.
Liz does not anticipate being able to continue treatment at Seattle Children’s, but she does intend to drive there for care.
“They will experience an even greater surge in patients; are they able to accommodate that many people? What is the length of their waitlist? “I said,” she said.
An interview regarding Seattle Children’s intentions to continue supporting transgender children was not answered.
E’s family in Missoula was likewise deeply affected by the choice made by Community Medical Center. About a year before puberty, E’s transgender daughter will reach puberty. They intended to begin using hormone replacement treatment after starting puberty blockers.
Only because she is concerned about violence and intimidation against her family has NPR consented to use E’s middle initial.
Telling her daughter that the hospital had halted treatment was difficult, E said.
She didn’t even consider the possibility that it wouldn’t occur. “Being a girl, I’m going through girl puberty when I go through it,” she said. E uttered.
During the previous election, President Trump and the Republican party ran on anti-trans themes.
Trump announced by executive order on January’s inauguration day that there are only two sexes, which are fixed at conception and cannot be altered. The executive order he issued was titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”
The decree states: “Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions.” It goes on, this trend “must end.”
Additionally, the Trump administration has canceled millions of dollars in funding for LGBTQ+ health research, restricted transgender people’s access to sports and the military, targeted schools and hospitals that support transgender youngsters, and mandated that passports match a person’s sex at birth. Courts have blocked or contested some of these initiatives.
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