HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overstepped his authority when he declared that gender-affirming care was unsafe and ineffective for young people experiencing gender dysphoria, a federal judge ruled late last week.
Mustafa Kasubhai, a U.S. District Court judge in Oregon, said Kennedy failed to go through proper administrative procedures in December when he issued the declaration, which warned doctors that they could be excluded from federal health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid if they provide these treatments. The ruling grants preliminary relief to health professionals who provide the treatments.
"The notion that 'I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it' is not a principle of governance that adheres to the overarching commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as a sacred," Kasubhai said, according to the New York Times.
The lawsuit was filed by 21 states and the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs alleged that the declaration is inaccurate and unlawful; that it seeks to coerce providers to stop providing gender-affirming care and circumvent legal requirements for policy changes; and that federal law requires the public to be given notice and an opportunity to comment before substantively changing health policy.
"Today's win breaks through the noise and gives some needed clarity to patients, families and providers," Letitia James, the Democratic New York attorney general who led the lawsuit, said in a statement after the ruling. "Health care services for transgender young people remain legal, and the federal government cannot intimidate or punish the providers who offer them."
The HHS declaration was based on a peer-reviewed report that urged greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming care for youth with gender dysphoria. However, major medical groups and those who treat transgender young people have criticized the report as inaccurate. Leading U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to oppose restrictions on transgender care and services for young people.
Earlier last week, a federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked several of Kennedy's vaccine policy changes, ruling that he likely violated federal procedures in revising a key vaccine advisory committee and narrowing the childhood vaccine schedule without the committee's input. Federal officials have indicated that they plan to appeal that ruling.
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