SEATTLE—Attorney General Nick Brown filed a multi-state federal lawsuit today to halt a presidential order that threatens to end federal funding to medical institutions providing gender-affirming care.
President Trump’s executive order – which Brown called clearly illegal and unusually cruel – also directs criminal enforcement against medical professionals and patients involved in such care. The lawsuit seeks to block federal agencies from acting on this order.
“This order is part of a larger political effort to strip away civil rights from entire communities. The president’s cruelty is on full display with this dehumanizing executive order, along with his disdain for the Constitution,” Brown said. “His actions are harming Washington’s youth, parents, and health care providers.”
The state is joined in the suit by the attorneys general of Minnesota and Oregon. Three individual doctors are joining as plaintiffs in the case, representing themselves as well as their minor patients for whom they care. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
“President Trump’s attempt to withhold federal funds from states that offer health care to transgender Washingtonians is unlawful and cruel,” said Washington state Governor Bob Ferguson. “Washington is a place that supports every resident’s civil rights. My team is working closely with the Attorney General to ensure Washingtonians are protected from illegal federal actions.”
The states argue this order violates the 5th Amendment’s equal protection guarantee by singling out transgender individuals for mistreatment and discrimination. Additionally, Congress has already authorized research and education funding for medical institutions in Washington state, and the president cannot unilaterally overrule congressional intent, the AG states.
The states also argue that the president cannot unilaterally regulate or criminalize medical practices in Washington state, which are protected by the 10th Amendment.
The executive order titled Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation and issued on January 28, directs agencies to cut off federal research and education grants to medical institutions, including hospitals and medical schools, that provide gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 19. This would prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants from flowing to state medical schools and hospitals.
One of the providers joining as a plaintiff wrote that if minors lose access to gender-affirming care, “I have no doubt that transgender adolescents will die. I am certain of it. There are going to be young people who are going to take their lives if they can no longer receive this care.”
In the motion for an emergency court order to block the executive action, Brown included examples of the harm that youth, parents, and medical providers are already enduring. A total of more than 100 witnesses provided declarations in support of the motion.
Trump sign Executive Order defunding gender affirming treatment
President Donald J Trump in his Executive Order issued January 28, called chemical and surgical mutilation “Junk Science” perpetuated by World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), an agency which lacks scientific integrity, the EO states.
Children is defined as anyone under the age of 19, according to the EO.
The EO defines “chemical and surgical mutilation” to mean the use of puberty blockers, including GnRH agonists and other interventions, to delay the onset or progression of normally timed puberty in an individual who does not identify as his or her sex; the use of sex hormones, such as androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone, to align an individual’s physical appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex; and surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs to minimize or destroy their natural biological functions. This phrase sometimes is referred to as “gender affirming care.”
The United States Attorney General is instructed to prioritize enforcement of protections against female genital mutilation across all American States and Territories and prioritize investigations and take appropriate action to end deceptive promotion of the public about long-term side effects of chemical and surgical mutilation.
The EO also instructs the AG to develop legislation for detransitioners to take legal action against medical professionals for which “whose healthy body parts have been damaged.”
The AG is also “to prioritize investigations and take appropriate action to end child-abusive practices by so-called sanctuary States that facilitate stripping custody from parents who support the healthy development of their own children, including by considering the application of the Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act and recognized constitutional rights.” This may apply to the recent SB-5599, sponsored by Senator Marko Liias and passed in Olympia in 2023. SB 5599 removed the requirement of shelters to notify parents if a child comes into their care seeking gender-affirming or reproductive health care.
The Secretary of HHS is now ordered to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children, including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions involving the following:
- Medicare or Medicaid conditions of participation or conditions for coverage;
- clinical-abuse or inappropriate-use assessments relevant to State Medicaid programs;
- mandatory drug use reviews;
- section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act;
- quality, safety, and oversight memoranda;
- essential health benefits requirements; and
- the Eleventh Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and other federally funded manuals, including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.
Insurance Carriers are to no longer provide coverage for pediatric transgender surgeries or hormone treatments for federal employees and their family members including members of the Arms Service.
The Secretary of HHS is ordered to promptly withdraw HHS’s March 2, 2022, guidance document titled “HHS Notice and Guidance on Gender Affirming Care, Civil Rights and Patient Privacy” and, in consultation with the Attorney General, issue new guidance protecting whistleblowers who take action related to ensuring compliance with this order.
The Secretary of Defense were also ordered to commence a rulemaking or sub-regulatory action to exclude chemical and surgical mutilation of children from TRICARE coverage and amend the TRICARE provider handbook to exclude chemical and surgical mutilation of children.
Source: Washington State Attorney General’s Office
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
