A federal judge said that the Department of Health and Human Services overstepped its authority with an effort to defund hospitals and doctors that perform gender transition procedures on minors.
Judge Mustafa Kasubhai of Oregon, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, said the case raised broader concerns about governance and the rule of law during a hearing Thursday, and said he would act to bar the action by the Trump administration.
Kasubhai said a declaration put forward by the agency was an attempt to test the limits of executive authority, according to the New York Times.
“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,” the judge said, adding that the rule of law must be “regarded and respected and honored as sacred.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James praised the decision Friday. “Health care services for transgender young people remain legal, and the federal government cannot intimidate or punish the providers who offer them,” she said.
The December declaration issued by HHS Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that gender procedures for minors are neither safe nor effective. Such procedures are sometimes referred to as “gender-affirming care,” but the Trump HHS termed them “sex-rejecting procedures.”
The document also asserted that the secretary has the authority to exclude providers from federal healthcare programs if they offer treatments that fail to meet “professionally recognized standards of care.”
In the declaration, Kennedy further argued that his assessment could override medical standards for gender transition procedures, claiming some recommended treatments are not supported by evidence and could endanger minors.
The department signaled it would begin investigating hospitals that provide such procedures to minors shortly after Kennedy’s declaration.
Following the announcement, James, along with a coalition of 18 other states and the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit against the health department, arguing that it exceeded the secretary’s authority, violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and was at odds with the Medicare and Medicaid statutes.
Lawyers for the federal government later argued in court filings that the declaration did not create a binding policy. Instead, they said it merely reflected Kennedy’s personal assessment of disputed and evolving medical treatments.
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According to the documents, the plaintiffs “misunderstood” the purpose of the declaration, describing it as a nonbinding statement of the secretary’s views based on his reading of medical literature.
The ruling comes after a different Biden judge blocked Kennedy’s plans to modify childhood vaccines earlier this week.
