A coalition of 19 states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attempts to restrict access to transgender health care by threatening medical providers.
The lawsuit, led by state Attorneys General Letitia James of New York and Dan Rayfield of Oregon, where the suit was filed, comes after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this month issued a series of directives aimed at obstructing transgender health care, specifically gender-affirming care for trans youth.
The HHS announced it intends to withhold Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors, and to alter the Biden administration’s definition of gender dysphoria so that it is no longer considered a disability under federal law.
“At the core of this so-called declaration are real people: young people who need care, parents trying to support their children, and doctors who are simply following the best medical evidence available,” James said in a statement announcing the esuit. “Secretary Kennedy cannot unilaterally change medical standards by posting a document online, and no one should lose access to medically necessary health care because their federal government tried to interfere in decisions that belong in doctors’ offices.”
The lawsuit argues that HHS’s declaration of policy change is arbitrary and that the agency lacks the authority to make unilateral changes to policies.
The Food and Drug Administration also issued letters this month warning a dozen manufacturers of chest binders, which transgender and nonbinary people sometimes use to combat gender dysphoria, alleging that the companies have failed to register as makers of medical devices.
In addition to New York and Oregon, states joining the lawsuit include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.