A coalition of over a dozen blue states is suing the Trump administration in an attempt to block federal policies aimed at curbing transgender medical interventions for minors.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Boston, comes from 16 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C. It challenges President Donald Trump’s January executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which instructs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prioritize enforcement against so-called “gender-affirming” care — a term encompassing things like puberty blockers and surgeries — for minors.
“Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump and his administration have relentlessly, cruelly, and unlawfully targeted transgender individuals,” the complaint reads. “The Trump administration has sought to deny their very existence, banish transgender residents from the public square, and refuse them medically necessary healthcare.”
Trump’s January executive order cuts off all federal funding for the chemical and surgical mutilation of children and threatens legal consequences for institutions that support the practices. In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi followed the president’s order with a directive calling on federal attorneys to investigate and prosecute doctors who perform or attempt to perform sex change surgeries on minors.
“Gender ideology, masked as science, teaches that children should process adolescent stress and confusion as a case of mistaken identity and that the solution is not to root out and eliminate the underlying condition but to acquiesce in it permanently through life-altering chemical and surgical intervention,” Bondi’s memo reads.
The states participating in the lawsuit include California, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as Washington, D.C.
Since the Trump administration’s crackdown began, a growing number of major hospitals have announced that they will no longer provide transgender-related treatments to minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries. The Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles are among those backing away from such services.
The DOJ has subpoenaed over a dozen hospitals and doctors as part of its investigation into transgender procedures involving children.
The states accused the Trump administration of “creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation experienced by transgender individuals, their families and caregivers, and the medical professionals” through its actions.
From 2019 to 2023, hospitals across the U.S. billed nearly $120 million for transgender-related procedures for roughly 14,000 minors, according to Do No Harm, a watchdog group fighting back against left-wing gender ideology in the medical field.
The lawsuit marks the latest legal clash between Democrat-led states and the Trump administration over transgender policy. In July, the Trump administration sued California for allowing men to compete in women’s sports in violation of federal law.
The DOJ did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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