Judge rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
PORTLAND, Oregon. (AP) — A federal judge said: the government has gone overboard A decision passed Thursday in Oregon issued a memorandum calling treatments such as puberty blockers and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for teens experiencing gender dysphoria.
Justice Mustafa Kasubhai’s decision focused on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s failure to go through proper administrative procedures in issuing the document. Declaration in December. The declaration also warned doctors that they could be excluded from federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid if they provided these treatments.
The judge also rejected the defendants’ request to dismiss the case.
The judge’s decision came at the end of a nearly 6-hour hearing, after which a written decision will be given.
“Today’s win breaks through the noise and provides patients, families and providers with much-needed clarity,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Democrat who prosecuted the case, said in a statement Thursday. “Health care for transgender youth remains legal, and the federal government cannot intimidate or penalize providers who provide these services.”
An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The New York Times reported that the judge talked about the broader implications of this case, particularly that it concerns democracy.
“The idea that ‘I’m going to go ahead and issue a proclamation and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance that depends on the overarching commitment to a democratic republic, which requires the rule of law to be seen as sacrosanct, respected and honored,” the judge said.
The decision was the second major legal failure for Kennedy and his family. US Department of Health and Human Services This week. Another federal judge in Boston on Monday. temporarily blocked Some changes in Kennedy’s vaccine policy. The judge ruled that Kennedy likely violated federal procedures by renewing a key vaccine advisory committee and narrowing the childhood vaccination program without the committee’s input. Federal officials have said they plan to appeal the decision.
In December, a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia sued HHS, Kennedy and its inspector general, claiming the declaration was false and illegal and asked the court to block its implementation.
HHS’s declaration aims to force providers to stop providing gender-affirming care and bypass legal requirements for policy changes, the lawsuit says. It also says federal law requires the public be notified and given an opportunity to comment before significantly changing health policy; None of this was done before the statement was released, the lawsuit states.
HHS’s statement based its conclusions on a peer-reviewed report the department conducted earlier this year that encouraged greater reliance on behavior therapy over broad gender-affirming care for youth with gender dysphoria.
The report questioned standards published by the World Association of Transgender Health Professionals for the treatment of transgender youth and raised concerns that teenagers may be too young to consent to life-changing treatments that could lead to future infertility.
Major medical groups and those who treat transgender youth harshly criticized the report as flawed, and most major U.S. health organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to oppose restrictions on transgender care and services for youth.
