Portland, Ore.– A federal judge said The government overstepped By issuing an ad that labeled treatments like puberty blockers and surgeries as unsafe and ineffective for young people with gender dysphoria, according to a ruling Thursday in Oregon.
Judge Mustafa Kasubai’s ruling revolved around Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s failure to follow proper administrative procedures when issuing the order. Announcement in December. The ad also warned doctors that they could be excluded from federal health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid if they provide these treatments.
The judge also rejected the defendants’ request to dismiss the case.
The judge’s ruling was made at the end of a hearing that lasted approximately 6 hours and will be followed by a written decision.
“Today’s win breaks through the noise and provides some much-needed clarity to patients, families and providers,” New York’s Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, who led the lawsuit, said in a statement Thursday. “Health care services for transgender youth remain legal, and the federal government cannot intimidate or punish providers of these services.”
An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The New York Times reported that the judge spoke about the broader ramifications associated with this case, especially with regard to democracy.
“The idea that I’m going to go ahead and make an announcement and see if we can get away with it is not a principle of governance that adheres to a comprehensive commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be respected, respected and honored as sacrosanct,” the judge said.
The decision is the second major legal setback for Kennedy and his team US Department of Health and Human Services this week. Another federal judge in Boston on Monday Temporarily blocked Several changes in Kennedy’s vaccine policy. The judge ruled that Kennedy likely violated federal procedures in renewing a key vaccine advisory committee and cutting back on the childhood vaccine schedule without the committee’s input. Federal officials have indicated that they intend to appeal this ruling.
A coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia in December sued the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy and its inspector general over the proclamation, claiming it was inaccurate and unlawful and asking a court to block its implementation.
The HHS announcement seeks to force providers to stop providing gender-affirming care and circumvent legal requirements for policy changes, the lawsuit says. It also says federal law requires public notice and an opportunity to comment before a health policy is fundamentally changed — neither of which the suit says was done before the announcement was made.
The HHS announcement based its conclusions on a peer-reviewed report the department conducted earlier this year that urged greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming care for youth with gender dysphoria.
The report questioned the standards for the treatment of transgender youth issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and raised concerns that teens may be too young to give consent to life-changing treatments that could lead to future infertility.
Major medical groups and those who treat transgender youth strongly criticized the report as inaccurate, and most major U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to oppose restrictions on care and services for transgender youth.