Judge Temporarily Stops Trumps Plan to End Funds for Trans Youths Health Providers
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to keep federal funding in place for hospitals that offer gender-transition treatments for people under the age of 19.The temporary restraining order issued by Judge Brendan A.Hurson, of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Maryland, came in a case brought by six transgender individuals between the ages of 12 and 18, along with parents and advocacy groups.They sued to block President Trump’s executive orders targeting medical treatments for trans youths.The order is not a final decision on the legal issues but is a setback for the Trump administration.
It creates a second legal roadblock to Mr.Trump’s broad effort to prohibit the government and taxpayer-funded institutions from recognizing transgender Americans according to their gender identities.
Earlier this month, another federal judge blocked Mr.Trump’s directive to withhold gender-transition medical treatment for federal prisoners, and to house transgender women inmates with men.Judge Hurson was appointed by former President Joseph R.
Biden Jr.Plaintiffs in the case, who live in Maryland, New York and Massachusetts, say that their access to gender-transition treatment is threatened by two executive orders Mr.Trump announced after his inauguration last month.One order directs federal agencies to ensure that grant funding for research or education does not support “gender ideology,” which it defines as the idea that “males can identify as, and thus become women and vice versa.” The second order specifically directs agencies to withhold funds from medical providers who offer puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries to people younger than 19 for the purpose of gender transition.After Mr.
Trump issued that order, the lawsuit says, several clinics canceled appointments.The plaintiffs noted a White House news release from earlier this month, which stated that the order is “already having its intended effect,” and cite...