Judge Blocks Trump Orders to Stop Funds for Trans Youth Health Providers

Federal funding for hospitals across the country that provide gender-transition treatments for people under the age of 19 will remain in place under a federal judge’s ruling in Baltimore on Tuesday.The preliminary injunction issued by Judge Brendan A.Hurson, of the U.S.

District Court for the District of Maryland, blocks a Trump administration effort to withhold funds from hospitals unless they stop providing gender-transition treatment to transgender youths.A similar decision in a separate case had already blocked the administration’s plan but applied only to four states.The new ruling expands to all states the pause on the Trump efforts while the legal case proceeds.Tuesday’s ruling came in a case brought by six transgender individuals between the ages of 12 and 18, along with parents and advocacy groups.

Plaintiffs in the case, who live in Maryland, New York and Massachusetts, said that their access to treatment was threatened by two of Mr.Trump’s executive orders that seek to limit federal support for youth gender medicine.One of the executive orders 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 that offer puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries to people younger than 19 for the purpose of gender transition.After Mr.

Trump issued the orders, several clinics canceled appointments, including for plaintiffs in the case.Judge Hurson, an appointee of former President Joseph R.

Biden Jr., had issued a temporary restraining order in February, finding that Mr.Trump had likely exceeded his authority by directing the federal agencies to withhold funds appropriated by Congress.

But the injunction issued on Tuesday signals that the government will need to overcome significant legal challenges t...