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13h ago

Sixteen States and D.C. Sue to Block Trump’s Federal Directives on Transgender Youth Care

Federal subpoenas have left hospitals across legal states in limbo, prompting Democratic-led governments to seek a court injunction against what they call unconstitutional intrusion into state medical authority.

FILE - Liv Y., center, holds a transgender pride flag as people gather to protest against the Trump administration and Project 2025 near the Washington State Capitol building, in in Olympia, Wash., Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump signs an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, in Washington, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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The Children's National Medical Center is pictured in Washington, DC, on September 16, 2009.

Overview

  • Sixteen states and the District of Columbia, joined by Pennsylvania’s governor, filed suit on Aug. 1 in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts challenging Trump’s executive order and DOJ memos as unconstitutional overreach under the Tenth Amendment.
  • Trump’s Jan. 28 executive order defined gender-affirming treatments for under-19s as “chemical and surgical mutilation” and directed an end to federal funding for such care.
  • In April and June, DOJ memos from Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant AG Brett Shumate instructed investigators to pursue providers under federal statutes banning female genital mutilation and prioritize civil and criminal probes.
  • By July, more than 20 subpoenas to clinics and hospitals prompted at least eight major health systems, including UI Health in Chicago, to suspend or limit gender-affirming services for minors despite state laws protecting the care.
  • Leading medical organizations, such as the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, maintain that gender-affirming care is standard treatment, warning that legal uncertainty is harming transgender youths’ access and wellbeing.