by Attorney General Rob Bonta, 14 other states, and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit last week, arguing that Trump administration restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary youth violate the Constitution and violate state laws requiring equal access to medical treatment.
A January executive order that prohibits funding, sponsoring, promoting, assisting, or supporting gender change for anyone under the age of 19 is the object of the case, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Medical facilities that offer this kind of care could lose government funds as a result of the directive.
As a result, transgender people, their families and caregivers, and medical professionals who merely want to give their patients the required, legal care face a climate of fear and intimidation, the attorneys general stated in the lawsuit.
This is California’s 37th lawsuit against the Trump administration.
In California, gender-affirming care is protected and permitted for those who are 18 years of age or older. Younger people can also receive certain therapies with parental approval. The case was filed at a time when several of the state’s biggest healthcare providers have stopped offering gender-affirming services.
At a press conference on Friday to announce the complaint, Bonta joined the attorneys general of Illinois and Connecticut in saying that the Trump administration has violated state rights, overreached its constitutional power, and put vulnerable juveniles and 18-year-olds in danger.
Providers scale back care
The U.S. Department of Justice instructed staff to look into physicians, medical facilities, and pharmaceutical companies that provide gender-affirming care after Trump’s executive order. As part of its investigation into healthcare fraud, false statements, and other matters, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondian said in a statement in July that her department had subpoenaed over 20 medical providers.
“As Attorney General Bondi has made clear, this Department of Justice will use every legal and law enforcement tool available to protect innocent children from being mutilated under the guise of care,” said DOJ spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre in response to the lawsuit.
According to Bonta, many patients have been deprived of essential medical care as a result of physicians cutting back on gender-affirming care out of fear of being prosecuted. Hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgery are all part of the care. Transgender youth’s mental health can benefit from gender-affirming therapy, according to research. According to Bonta, forcing young people to put off seeking treatment until they are 19 or older exacerbates gender dysphoria symptoms.
The state attorneys general contend that complying with Trump’s directives would place providers in violation of their states’ age-of-majority and anti-discrimination statutes. Denying someone care because of their gender identity or gender expression is against the law in California. In addition, a large number of healthcare providers depend on federal funding through education and research grants and payments from public payer programs such as Medi-Cal.
Several suppliers have already been compelled to halt services due to the Trump administration’s demands. About 3,000 children under the age of 21 were forced to seek care elsewhere when Children’s Hospital Los Angeles discontinued its gender-affirming care program last month.
Get neighborhood news in your inbox. It’s free and enlightening.
Become one of the 20,000+ individuals who receive breaking news alerts and the Times of San Diego in their inbox every day at 8 a.m.
Weekly updates from San Diego communities have also been provided! You acknowledge and agree to the terms by clicking “Sign Up.” Choose from the options below.
According to Bonta, the shutdown occurred in spite of the efforts my office had made in the previous months to reassure Children’s Hospital Los Angeles that they were safeguarded and obligated to offer care that was gender affirming.
Additionally, Stanford Medicine has stopped doing surgeries on patients younger than 19. Kaiser Permanente also declared this week that it would also stop performing gender-affirming procedures as of August 29. However, the company noted that hormone treatments would remain accessible.
Trump has issued a number of executive orders that target transgender individuals, including the one under dispute. Others include one that restricts participation in women’s sports for transgender women and girls, another that only acknowledges two biological sexes, and a third that jeopardizes federal funding for schools that assist transgender children.
CalMatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news company that holds our officials accountable while providing Californians with articles that examine, clarify, and consider solutions to problems affecting their quality of life.
