Attorney General James Sues to Block Trump Administration’s Illegal Attacks on Gender-Affirming Care

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James at the moment led a coalition of 15 different states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration for attacking entry to gender-affirming well being take care of transgender and nonbinary youth. Attorney General James and the coalition are difficult a coordinated federal marketing campaign to intimidate well being care suppliers into halting medically essential remedy for people beneath age 19, even in states the place such care is authorized and guarded by regulation, equivalent to New York. The attorneys normal argue that the administration is unlawfully looking for to impose a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care by threatening suppliers with baseless felony expenses and investigations. The attorneys normal are asking the courtroom to halt this unconstitutional strain marketing campaign and guarantee transgender youth can proceed to entry legally protected well being care with out worry.

“The federal government is running a cruel and targeted harassment campaign against providers who offer lawful, lifesaving care to children,” stated Attorney General James. “This administration is ruthlessly targeting young people who already face immense barriers just to be seen and heard, and are putting countless lives at risk in the process. In New York and nationwide, we will never stop fighting for the dignity, safety, and basic rights of the transgender community.”

On his first day in workplace, the president signed an government order declaring that the United States would solely acknowledge two sexes and looking for to remove all federal help for what it calls “gender ideology.” A second government order signed days later expanded the administration’s deal with eliminating gender-affirming take care of youth and younger adults, redefining everybody beneath the age of 19 as “children,” despite the fact that, in states like New York, 18-year-olds are authorized adults with full medical autonomy. The order additionally erroneously characterised normal, evidence-based medical care as “chemical and surgical mutilation” and directed the U.S. Attorney General to prioritize enforcement actions in opposition to suppliers of gender-affirming care nationwide.

Attorney General James and the coalition assert that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken aggressive motion to implement the president’s directives. In the months because the orders had been signed, DOJ has issued steering threatening felony prosecution of suppliers, launched civil and felony investigations into main hospitals, made broad and unlawful calls for for personal affected person information, and issued subpoenas concentrating on suppliers throughout the nation. The attorneys normal argue these actions usually are not primarily based in regulation, as no federal statute prohibits gender-affirming care, and as a substitute are designed to intimidate and suppress care via unlawful threats and coercion.

In the criticism, the attorneys normal emphasize that medical consultants overwhelmingly agree that gender-affirming care is protected, essential, and in lots of instances, lifesaving care. Every main medical affiliation within the United States, together with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric Association, acknowledges gender-affirming care as the suitable remedy for gender dysphoria. Denying entry to such care has been proven to considerably improve charges of despair, anxiousness, and suicidality in transgender youth.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the administration’s marketing campaign of intimidation is already working. Some suppliers are even scaling again or eliminating providers fully. In New York, a number of main well being programs reportedly canceled younger sufferers’ gender-affirming care appointments abruptly within the wake of the president’s government orders, leaving households with out care or steering. Denying entry to that care, the attorneys normal warn, will value lives.

The attorneys normal assert that gender-affirming care is legally protected in all of their states and that federal makes an attempt to dam such care symbolize a blatant assault on state sovereignty in violation of the Tenth Amendment. The attorneys normal assert that the administration’s actions put suppliers in an not possible place: both adjust to illegal federal threats or violate state legal guidelines that require nondiscriminatory entry to medical care. In New York, for instance, suppliers are legally obligated to supply care with out discrimination primarily based on gender id or expression. The attorneys normal contend that these actions violate the Constitution, exceed the federal government’s statutory authority, and run afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act. They are asking the courtroom to declare the implementation of the chief orders and related DOJ directives unlawful.

“Transgender and nonbinary youth deserve the freedom to access the health care they need without fear, shame, or government interference,” stated Dr. Carla Smith, CEO of The NYC LGBT Community Center. “The Trump administration’s actions endanger the lives of young people who already face disproportionate rates of depression and suicide. We applaud Attorney General James and this coalition of attorneys general for standing up to these attacks and defending the right to gender-affirming care that is clearly recognized, supported, and protected by law. We also call on healthcare providers to demonstrate courage and integrity, and to follow our state’s laws.”

“This attack on gender-affirming care is not just a policy dispute—it is a deliberate act of violence against transgender and nonbinary youth and the providers who care for them,” stated Tandra R. LaGrone, CEO of In Our Own Voices, Inc. “At In Our Own Voices, we serve LGBTQ+ communities of color who already face overwhelming barriers to healthcare, dignity, and survival. These federal threats are reckless, cruel, and unconstitutional. We stand with Attorney General James and this multistate coalition in saying clearly: we will not be intimidated, we will not back down, and we will fight to ensure that every young person has access to the lifesaving care they need and deserve.”

“The threat of attacking the health care of young people and adults has already caused harm here in New York state and beyond,” stated The Sylvia Rivera Law Project. “This intimidation is causing confusion to medical providers and threatening criminalization, when providers have been following WPATH standards of care for decades since it was founded in 1978. We support the autonomy and decision-making of youth and their supportive families and communities in our healthcare access. We want to affirm parents and families who are supporting trans youth in accessing the necessary care that is needed to meet our survival and self-determination.”

“Access to gender-affirming care saves lives. ACT UP NY will continue to fight alongside trans youth, families with trans people, and for anyone seeking to protect their bodily autonomy and the bodily autonomy of others,” stated Gwen Appenfeller and Mattie Beaton, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) NY. “This federal administration’s attempt to ban access to care for children based on their gender identity is a continued direct attack, and an attempt at control and erasure, not just of trans people, but the bodily autonomy of every person living in the United States. This illegal ban claims that the government knows better than doctors, parents, trans youth, and their community when it comes to the healthcare and well-being of all children. This is simply untrue. Trans people deserve to live. Trans children deserve to grow into healthy adults. Whether this ridiculous ban stands or not, the Trans Working Group of ACT UP NY and our coalition partners will continue our work to make sure that trans children are safe, which includes having access to the life-saving Gender-Affirming Care they need and deserve. Since 1987, ACT UP has fought AIDS, demanded justice for health and housing, and built radical systems of care. We will continue this legacy. We stand in unwavering solidarity with New York State Attorney General Letitia James as she continues to lead the legal fight to protect LGBTQI+ people—particularly transgender individuals—against systemic attacks on our rights, health, and existence. ACT UP!  FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!”

“To deny a transgender child the right to gender-affirming care is the truest form of cruel and unusual punishment,” stated Yaetza Maria Martinez, WAVE Women. “Imagine being denied necessary medical treatment that will help you not only survive but thrive! Medical transitions must only be guided by the individual who is transitioning and their chosen medical providers.”

Joining Attorney General James in submitting this lawsuit are the attorneys normal of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, in addition to the governor of Pennsylvania.

For extra data on gender-affirming care protections in New York, go to the Office of the Attorney General’s web site.