A federal judge has blocked US President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting access to gender-affirming healthcare for people under the age of 19. The ruling has now blocked the order nationwide.

Signed by Trump on January 28, the ‘Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation’ order directs the Federal Health Employee Benefits Plan to stop coverage of gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and gender-affirming surgeries for those aged 19 and under.

It also halts federal funding to all hospitals, clinics, and medical schools currently providing gender-affirming care and calls on the Department of Justice to investigate medications currently prescribed and to prosecute healthcare providers, citing laws that prohibit “female genital mutilation.”

The effect of the order was almost immediate, with hospitals in Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, Colorado, and Virginia cancelling appointments with young trans patients. Some of these patients had already been on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for years and found themselves suddenly cut off from those treatments.

After the order was passed, Lambda Legal, PFLAG, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Maryland, and law firms Jenner & Block and Hogan Lovells joined forces to mount a legal challenge against the order, saying that it represented an attempt to politicise and weaponise trans healthcare.

 

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In a ruling delivered on Thursday, February 13, US judge Brendan Hurson blocked the order banning gender-affirming care for minors and found that Trump doesn’t have the authority to impose such restrictions on medical providers. The ruling halts enforcement of the order nationwide, thus preventing the Trump administration from withholding funds from hospitals and medical service providers.

“Stopping care in the middle of receiving it, any care, really, casts doubt on whether in fact the goals are to protect the recipients of the care,” the ruling reads.

In a statement welcoming the ruling, CEO of PFLAG National Brian K. Bond said it represented a moment of justice for families who are fighting for their children’s medical care. “Good and decent parents of transgender kids should never be in the frightening position of having their child’s prescribed, medically necessary care canceled at the whim and threat of a politician,” Bond said added.

“Today’s decision rights a grievous wrong to our nation’s families and children, and PFLAG families will be vigilant to ensure our transgender loved ones receive the healthcare they need—as this legal ruling demands.”

Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, echoed these words, saying: “Across the country, this unlawful order from the president has sown fear among transgender youth and confusion among their providers.

“But today’s decision should restore both their access to healthcare and protections under the Constitution. Providers who’ve suspended healthcare for their transgender patients should be left with no doubt that they can lift those suspensions and continue to provide healthcare and act in their best medical judgment without risking their funding or worse.”