A coalition of over a dozen states has launched a significant legal challenge against the Trump administration, accusing it of orchestrating an unconstitutional campaign to curtail gender-affirming care nationwide. This sweeping lawsuit, spearheaded by New York, contends that the administration is employing a deceptive “backdoor strategy” to restrict essential healthcare services for transgender youth, directly circumventing existing state laws designed to protect these vital medical interventions. The legal action seeks to halt what plaintiffs describe as an overreach of federal power into state-protected healthcare access.
The core of the states’ complaint centers on the Trump administration’s alleged attempts to impose federal restrictions on gender-affirming care through threats of severe criminal and civil penalties. Attorneys general argue these actions are not only a violation of states’ rights but also an illicit tactic to undermine the established legality of such care, particularly for minors. This strategy, they assert, bypasses the legislative process and aims to achieve federal policy changes through intimidation rather than law.
The ripple effects of these federal pressures are already evident, with numerous hospitals across the country ceasing or pausing their gender-affirming care programs for minors. This includes facilities in states like California, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., where state statutes explicitly safeguard access to this care. Hospital administrators have publicly linked these program closures and suspensions directly to the Trump administration’s executive orders and administrative directives, highlighting the immediate and chilling impact on healthcare access for vulnerable populations.
The plaintiff states, including those where gender-affirming care clinics have recently shuttered, maintain that there is no existing federal statute prohibiting this type of medical treatment in the United States. Instead, they argue that the Justice Department’s activities constitute an unlawful intimidation campaign designed to suppress and eliminate essential transgender rights. Their state lawsuits aim to secure judicial intervention, seeking to block the federal government’s ongoing actions and ensure continued provision of care.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has joined several state attorneys general in this landmark litigation, asserting that gender-affirming care is unequivocally protected under the laws of their respective states. They contend that the Trump administration’s federal efforts to obstruct this care directly infringe upon the Tenth Amendment, which reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people. This legal battle underscores a fundamental conflict over federal versus state authority in healthcare policy.
Further aggravating the situation, revelations indicate the Justice Department, under Chad Mizelle, has issued at least 20 subpoenas to clinics involved in gender transition care, along with drug manufacturers. These investigations, reportedly stemming from a January executive order, have targeted doctors for patients’ private information, despite explicit protections for medical privacy. The administration’s directives are built upon what the plaintiffs describe as an incorrect and harmful interpretation of existing laws concerning civil liberties.
The New York lawsuit specifically challenges these sweeping investigations and probes into three children’s hospitals that either currently offer or have previously offered gender-affirming care. Beyond the direct actions against the Trump administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the suit also references other federal agency interventions, such as an event hosted by the Federal Trade Commission, misleadingly titled “the dangers of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors,” where the Justice Department first announced its patient information subpoenas.
In stark contrast to the administration’s stance, leading medical organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association have consistently endorsed gender-affirming care for transgender youth, affirming its medical necessity and efficacy. The new president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health has issued a stark warning, emphasizing that prohibiting gender-affirming care will not eliminate it but instead drive it underground, significantly endangering patients and compromising healthcare access.
