New York — On Tuesday, a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against… US Department of Health and Human Servicesand its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and its Inspector General regarding an announcement that could complicate access to Gender-affirming care For young people.
the a permit Released last Thursday, it described treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries as unsafe and ineffective for children and teens experiencing gender dysphoria, or distress when someone’s gender expression does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. It also warned doctors that they could be excluded from federal health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid if they provide these types of care.
This announcement came as the Department of Health and Human Services also announced Proposed rules It was intended to reduce gender-affirming care for youth, although the lawsuit does not address those matters because it is not final.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon, claims the ad is inaccurate and unlawful and asks the court to block its implementation. It is the latest in a A series of clashes Among the administration is cracking down on health care for transgender children, arguing it could be harmful to them, and advocates who say the care is medically necessary and should not be withheld.
“Secretary Kennedy cannot unilaterally change medical standards by posting a document online, and no one should lose access to medically necessary health care because his federal government tried to interfere in decisions about doctors’ offices,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the lawsuit, said in a statement Tuesday.
The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Health and Human Services’ announcement seeks to force providers to stop providing gender-affirming care and circumvent legal requirements for policy changes. It says federal law requires public notice and an opportunity to comment before a health policy is fundamentally changed — neither of which the lawsuit says occurred before the announcement was made.
An HHS spokesperson declined to comment.
The HHS announcement based its conclusions on a peer-reviewed report the department conducted earlier this year that urged greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming care for youth with gender dysphoria.
The report questioned the standards for the treatment of transgender youth issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and raised concerns that teens may be too young to give consent to life-changing treatments that could lead to future infertility.
Major medical groups and those who treat transgender youth strongly criticized the report as inaccurate, and most major U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to oppose restrictions on care and services for transgender youth.
The announcement was made as part of a multifaceted effort to limit gender-affirming health care for children and teens — and built on other Trump administration efforts to target transgender rights nationwide.
HHS on Thursday also unveiled two proposed federal rules — one to cut off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children, and another to prevent federal Medicaid funds from being used for such procedures.
The proposals are not yet final or legally binding and must go through a lengthy rulemaking and public comment process before becoming permanent. However, it is likely to further discourage health care providers from providing gender-affirming care to children.
Many major medical providers have already backed away from gender-affirming care for young patients since Trump returned to office — even in states where the care is legal and protected by state law.
Medicaid programs in less than half of states currently cover gender affirming care. At least 27 states have adopted laws Restrict or prohibit Care. Recent Supreme Court decision Support ban in Tennessee This means that most other state laws will likely remain in effect.
James was joined in the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Democratic attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington and the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor also joined.