Nearly 20 states sue HHS over declaration to restrict gender transition treatment for minors

By Fox News · Fox News

A group of 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a declaration that aims to restrict gender transition treatment for minors. The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; and its inspector general comes after the declaration issued last week described treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender surgeries as unsafe and ineffective for children experiencing gender dysphoria. The declaration also warned doctors they could be excluded from federal health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, if they provide these treatments to minors. The move seeks to build on President Donald Trump's executive order in January calling on HHS to protect children from "chemical and surgical mutilation." HHS UNLEASHES SWEEPING CRACKDOWN ON CHILD 'SEX-REJECTING PROCEDURES,' THREATENS HOSPITAL, MEDICAID FUNDING "We are taking six decisive actions guided by gold standard science and the week one executive order from President Trump to protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation," Kennedy said during a press conference last week. HHS has also proposed new rules designed to further block gender transition treatment for minors, although the lawsuit does not address the rules, which have yet to be finalized. The states' lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Eugene, Oregon, argues that the declaration is inaccurate and unlawful and urges the court to prevent it from being enforced. "Secretary Kennedy cannot unilaterally change medical standards by posting a document online, and no one should lose access to medically necessary health care because their federal government tried to interfere in decisions that belong in doctors’ offices," New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the lawsuit, said in a statement. The lawsuit claims the declaration attempts to pressure providers into ending gender transition treatment for young people and circumven…