19 Democrat States Sue Trump Admin Over Ban on Child Gender Transitions

The Trump administration’s effort to protect children from radical gender ideology is under attack this time by 19 Democrat-run states and Washington, D.C., who have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for declaring so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors unsafe and ineffective.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, targets HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Inspector General Christi Grimm, and the department as a whole. It challenges last week’s official declaration that condemned puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender surgeries for minors as harmful, medically questionable, and in many cases irreversible.

The declaration, based on a comprehensive peer-reviewed HHS report, warns that medical providers who offer these procedures to children risk being excluded from Medicare and Medicaid programs. The move is part of a broader Trump-led initiative to end the mutilation of minors under the guise of healthcare.

“We are taking six decisive actions guided by gold standard science and the week one executive order from President Trump to protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” Kennedy said in a press conference.

In response, Democrat attorneys general led by New York’s Letitia James, one of the most radically progressive AGs in the nation are claiming the declaration is “unlawful” and accusing the administration of overstepping its authority.

But here's what they’re really upset about: the Trump administration is standing between woke activists and vulnerable children, and the Left doesn’t like losing that control.

Let’s be clear about the facts:

• Studies from countries like Sweden and the UK once leaders in gender transition treatments now warn against using these interventions on minors, citing a lack of long-term evidence and high risks of regret.

• A 2022 systematic review published in the British Medical Journal concluded there is “very low certainty” that puberty blockers or hormones help with gender dysphoria in youth.

• 27 U.S. states have passed laws restricting or banning child gender transitions, and the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban earlier this year, signaling national momentum toward protecting minors.

Despite this, Democrat-led states want to force hospitals and doctors to continue these dangerous practices, even when mounting medical evidence and public opinion shift in the opposite direction. The lawsuit complains that the declaration didn't go through a lengthy public comment process as if bureaucratic red tape is more important than the health and safety of children.

Adding more fuel to the fire, HHS has proposed two new federal rules:

1. Cutting off Medicaid and Medicare funding to hospitals that perform gender transition procedures on minors.

2. Blocking Medicaid reimbursement for any such treatment.

While these rules are still undergoing public review, their intention is clear the federal government will no longer fund irreversible, ideologically driven experiments on children.

Major medical groups many of which have been thoroughly captured by far-left activists continue to defend these practices. But behind the scenes, several hospitals have already pulled back from offering these procedures since Trump returned to the White House, even in deep-blue states.

This lawsuit isn’t about science, medicine, or rights. It’s about Democrat power and control and their willingness to sacrifice children on the altar of woke ideology.

Trump’s administration, in contrast, is taking long-overdue action to draw a line in the sand. As the president himself said in January, “Children will not be preyed upon by medical profiteers and political extremists.”

This lawsuit is only the latest clash in a broader cultural war over the future of American children. And for once, thanks to strong leadership in the White House, the tide is finally turning.

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