States Sue Trump Over Gender-Affirming Care Restrictions for Youth

By Staff Writer

BOSTON — Seventeen Democratic officials, including attorneys general from 15 states, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania’s governor, filed a lawsuit Friday accusing President Donald Trump’s administration of unlawfully pressuring hospitals to stop providing gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

The lawsuit follows a month in which at least eight major hospitals and health systems — in states where the care is legal — announced they would halt or restrict treatment. The latest came Thursday from UI Health in Chicago.

Plaintiffs allege that the administration’s actions amount to an illegal nationwide ban on gender-affirming care for minors, despite no federal law prohibiting such services.

Hospitals Scale Back Under Political and Legal Pressure

Trump’s administration began issuing subpoenas to providers in July, later touting hospital closures as a success. Major institutions, including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Children’s National in Washington D.C., Yale New Haven Health, and UChicago Medicine, have announced cutbacks.

Kaiser Permanente will pause surgeries for patients under 19 as of late August but continue hormone therapy. Connecticut Children’s Medical Center cited “an increasingly complex and evolving landscape” for ending care.

“These decisions are driven by legal threats, not medical science,” said Alex Sheldon, executive director of GLMA, which advocates for LGBTQ+ health equity.

Federal Actions Target Transgender Healthcare

Since taking office in January, Trump has signed an executive order defining sex as strictly male or female for government purposes, cut federal funding for care under 19, and directed investigations into providers.

The Department of Health and Human Services released a controversial report in May discouraging medical interventions for transgender youth, while the Justice Department prioritized civil investigations into providers. In July, the administration sent over 20 subpoenas to clinics as part of alleged fraud investigations.

The White House recently called gender-affirming care a “barbaric, pseudoscientific practice.”

Families Struggle to Access Care

For families, the restrictions mean urgent searches for alternative providers. Kirsten Salvatore, whose 15-year-old began hormone therapy last year, said the treatment significantly reduced anxiety and depression. After Penn State Health stopped offering hormones for minors on July 31, Salvatore has struggled to find another provider within reasonable distance that accepts Medicaid.

“I’m walking around blind with no guidance,” she said, adding the family has enough medication to last until January. Without a new provider, she fears her child could be forced to detransition.

SOURCE: AP News