On July 31, 2025, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul led a coalition of 16 state attorneys general plus the state of Pennsylvania in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to use criminal and civil enforcement to restrict access to necessary health care for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary youth and young adults. The lawsuit targets recent federal actions aimed at deterring providers from offering medically appropriate care to individuals under age 19—an age group that includes legal adults—even in states where such care is legal and protected. On his first day in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that the United States would recognize only two sexes and calling for an end to federal support for what the administration called “gender ideology.” Executive Order 14187, signed shortly after, focused on restricting medically necessary health care for young people. It defined everyone under 19 as a child, even though 18-year-olds are legal adults, and described recognized medical treatments as “chemical and surgical mutilation.”  

On July 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release announcing that it had issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics that provide gender-affirming care to adolescents. In the release, Attorney General Bondi stated that “[m]edical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice.”  The DOJ has demanded private patient data and suggested that criminal charges may follow. As federal investigations and funding threats have continued, hospitals across the country have shut down gender-affirming care programs for minors — even in states where access to this care is protected by state law. Multiple hospitals have attributed shuttering or pausing their gender-affirming care programs to Trump’s executive orders and administration actions.  

In their lawsuit, the coalition argues that the administration is overstepping its authority by using threats of criminal prosecution and federal investigations, including through requests for sensitive patient information, to pressure health care providers into limiting or ceasing medically necessary care for transgender young people. The coalition also argues that the implementation of Executive Order 14187, Section 8 is unlawful and undermines states’ rights by stripping them of their power to regulate health care provided to their own residents. The attorneys general argue that the administration is unlawfully seeking to impose a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care by threatening providers with baseless criminal charges and investigations, and they ask the court to halt this unconstitutional pressure campaign and ensure transgender youth can continue to access legally protected health care without fear.  

Medically necessary health care for transgender youth saves lives, and those health care decisions should be made by patients, families, and their providers – not by politicians. I will continue to fight back against illegal policies that harm our residents and violate their rights. Attorney General Andrea Campbell