A lawsuit filed against the Trump administration Friday by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and her counterparts in 15 other states aims to preserve medical care for transgender youth that she said the federal government was trying to deter.
Through subpoenas, threats of criminal prosecution and federal investigations, and requests for private patient information, the administration has attempted to dissuade providers from offering gender-affirming care to people younger than 19, Campbell said. That included doctors in states where such care remains legal, such as Massachusetts.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, asked a federal judge to block the government’s coercion of medical providers, as described by the plaintiffs.
“Medically necessary health care for transgender youth saves lives, and those health care decisions should be made by patients, families, and their providers — not by politicians,” Campbell said in a statement.
The Trump administration began scrutinizing medical care for transgender young people on the day the president returned to office.
His first actions included an executive order declaring that the United States would recognize two sexes while calling for an end to “gender ideology.” A follow-up order attempted to curtail youth gender-affirming care, defined any person under 19 as a child and framed medical treatments for gender dysphoria as “chemical and surgical mutilation.”
The president also authorized the Justice Department to enforce the order.
The lawsuit from Campbell and other attorneys general argues the department’s subpoenas, demands for patient data, and threats of prosecution are illegal.
In some states, they said, providers have already cut back on treatments, while patients report canceled appointments and confusion about whether their treatment regimens can continue.
In May, the American Academy of Pediatrics and five other leading medical organizations said they opposed attempts to infringe on patient-physician relationships.
The lawsuit was filed jointly with the attorneys general of New York, California, Illinois and Connecticut, with support from the attorneys general of Delaware, Hawai’i, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.
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