PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon said on Thursday it would grant a summary judgment against a declaration by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that sought to cut Medicare and Medicaid funding to hospitals performing certain procedures on transgender minors.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai will rule that the declaration exceeded the secretary’s statutory authority and failed to follow required administrative procedures. The decision came in a lawsuit led by Washington state and joined by 20 other states plus the District of Columbia.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown described the outcome as a major victory.
“This is a resounding win for the rights of youth, their families, and the rule of law when it comes to medical care,” AG Brown said. “The court agrees that the administration ignored the law in its rush to deprive transgender youth of the health care they are legally entitled to.”
The HHS declaration, issued in December of 2025, labeled puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for minors with gender dysphoria as unsafe and ineffective. It threatened to exclude providers from federal health programs if they performed the sex-rejecting procedures on patients under 18.
The declaration also moved to remove gender dysphoria as a disability under federal programs. The judge ruled the HHS declaration unlawful because the HHS declaration bypassed required procedures. A written order follows the oral ruling from the bench.
In June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for trans youth in states of the Sixth Circuit.
Separately, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons urged physicians in February 2026 to delay sex-change surgeries for children and adolescents until at least age 19. The group pointed to evidence that childhood gender dysphoria often resolves naturally in a substantial proportion of cases. Kennedy commended the society for standing up to the overmedicalization lobby and defending sound science.
For Washington residents, the ruling preserves access to care protected under state law, including sanctuary provisions for families seeking treatment.
Ther has been no response from HHS to the Judge Kasubhai’s anticipated decision.
Author: Mario Lotmore
