Washington — A group of transgender minors and their families filed a lawsuit on Tuesday that challenges President Trump’s executive action restricting access to gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19.
The suit was filed in federal district court in Maryland on behalf of two 12 year-olds who identify as transgender and five transgender teenagers who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria, along with LGBTQ advocacy groups. They allege that Mr. Trump’s actions violate the Constitution and discriminate on the basis of sex and transgender status.
“The Executive Orders were issued for the openly discriminatory purpose of preventing transgender people from expressing a gender identity different from their sex designated at birth — and expressing governmental disapproval of transgender people who, by definition, have a gender identity that does not align with their sex designated at birth,” lawyers for the families wrote in their complaint.
Mr. Trump’s executive order requires federal agencies to ensure medical institutions that receive federal research or education grants end the so-called “chemical and surgical mutilation of children,” defined as those under the age of 19. Medical treatments covered by the order include puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical procedures.
“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the order states.
Mr. Trump’s measure also calls for federally run insurance programs like TRICARE, the Defense Department’s health care program, and Medicaid to exclude gender-affirming care for minors from coverage.
The measure follows executive action taken by the president on his first day back in office that prohibits the use of federal funds to promote gender ideology and declares U.S. policy as recognizing two sexes, male and female.
Half of the states have in recent years passed laws restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors. The Supreme Court is currently considering the constitutionality of one of those laws, from Tennessee, and will likely issue a decision in the challenge brought by former President Joe Biden’s administration, three families and a doctor by the beginning of July. The Trump administration is likely to reverse the government’s position in the case.
The lawsuit filed by the seven transgender individuals argues that Mr. Trump’s executive orders involving gender identity are unlawful and unconstitutional because he is usurping Congress’ authority by unilaterally seeking to withhold funding from medical institutions, providers and researchers that have already received congressional approval.
“Under our Constitution, it is Congress, not the president, who is vested with the power of the purse,” they argued in their filing. “The president does not have unilateral power to withhold federal funds that have been previously authorized by Congress and signed into law, and the president does not have the power to impose his own conditions on the use of funds when Congress has not delegated to him the power to do so.”
The challengers warn that Mr. Trump’s directive to cut off federal funding for medical providers that offer gender-affirming care has already had “concrete and immediate effects.” In one instance, Children’s National based in Washington, D.C., announced last week — on the heels of the president’s order — that it would be pausing its provision of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth.
In another instance, one of the plaintiffs, a 17-year-old from Virginia identified in filings as W.G., was set to continue receiving hormone therapy from doctors at Virginia Commonwealth University Health and Children’s Hospital, but had her appointment canceled. The hospital receives more than $100 million in federal grants, according to the complaint, and announced it would be suspending gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 19 in response to Mr. Trump’s order.
NYU Langone Health in New York City, which received more than $5.6 million in federal grants over the last 12 months, treats several of the transgender youth involved in the lawsuit but canceled planned procedures for two of them, according to the filing.
“By directing agencies to withhold all federal funding from entities that ‘promote gender ideology’ and provide gender affirming medical care to patients under nineteen, the Gender Identity and Denial of Care Orders threaten the ability of medical institutions and healthcare providers throughout the U.S. to provide essential health care to their communities, train the next generation of physicians, and support research to address this country’s greatest health challenges,” lawyers for the challengers wrote.
They are asking the court to declare Mr. Trump’s orders are unlawful and block their enforcement.
The president has issued a slew of executive orders in his first weeks back in the White House covering a wide range of issues, from immigration to energy to gender identity. Many have already been the subject of court challenges, and more are expected as federal agencies begin taking steps to implement Mr. Trump’s directives.