Kaul joins multistate suit claiming Trump has sought to deter care of transgender youths
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, comes six months after Kaul vowed to pursue legal actions should the federal government attempt to impede funding for gender-affirming health care.
Recent federal actions have sought to deter health care providers from treating transgender patients under the age of 19, despite states like Wisconsin having laws in place that allow for medically appropriate procedures. President Donald Trump's Jan. 28 order oversteps its authority, the lawsuit states, by intimidating providers through threats of civil and criminal prosecution.
The lawsuit emphasizes the order not only "has no basis in law" but is unconstitutional. Ultimately, the lawsuit is requesting the court to block the administration's actions and cease enforcing the order.
'The Trump administration shouldn't be interfering with the provision of health care,' Kaul said in a press release last week. 'The administration should be respecting individual liberty and equal rights, not shamefully targeting transgender people.'
Trump's directive, signed early in his second term, aims to strip funds from medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care, and would require federal health programs like Medicaid and TRICARE (for military families) to exclude coverage of gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for young people by 2026.
Gender-affirming medical care supports people whose gender identity is out of sync with the sex they were assigned at birth. Health care may include the use of hormones to delay puberty in adolescents, behavioral health counseling to support and promote the gender identity with which a person aligns, and hormone replacement therapy. In very rare cases for young people, it may involve surgery.
Access to gender-affirming services has been associated with lower suicide risks for transgender people. Research has also shown that people encountering anti-transgender bias and a denial of services had more than double the prevalence of suicide attempts than those who didn't have such experiences, according to the Williams Institute.
The attorneys general warn the administration's tactics have had a chilling effect on states' ability to provide gender-affirming services. Despite protective laws being on the books, health care providers have already scaled back the services they offer to transgender youth. Other gender clinics have shuttered services completely in an attempt to avoid civil or criminal investigations and actions.
Joining Kaul in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania.
Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com or view her X (Twitter) profile at @natalie_eilbert.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin AG Kaul joins suit claiming Trump deters transgender care
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