19 states sue HHS over push to ban transgender care for minors

RFK Jr. announces new gender-affirming restrictions

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday moved to cut access to gender-affirming care for minors. "This is not medicine. This is malpractice," said Kennedy.

A group of 19 states and Washington, DC have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services over its efforts to limit access to gender-affirming care for young people. 

The lawsuit also names Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

What does the new HHS policy say? 

Big picture view:

A declaration issued last week by HHS deems treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria, or the distress one feels when their gender expression doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth. It also warned doctors that they could be excluded from federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid if they provide those types of care.

READ MORE: Supreme Court OKs Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for kids

HHS based its declaration on a peer-reviewed report conducted earlier this year. The report supported more behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming care for youths with gender dysphoria.

FILE - Members of Rainbow Families Action march from Bay Street in Emeryville, California Monday, Dec. 8, 2025 to the Sutter corporate offices on Powell Street to protest the end of gender-affirming care to patients under age 19. (Photo by Jessica Ch

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The report also questioned standards for the treatment of transgender youth and raised concerns that adolescents may be too young to give consent to life-changing treatments.

It’s part of a larger campaign to limit gender-affirming health care for children and teenagers.

HHS also unveiled two proposed federal rules — one to cut off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children, and another to prohibit federal Medicaid dollars from being used for such procedures.

The other side:

Major medical groups say the report is inaccurate, while most major U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to oppose restrictions on transgender care and services for young people.

What's next:

The proposals are not yet final. They must first go through a lengthy rulemaking process and public comment before becoming permanent. 

Dig deeper:

Several major medical providers have already begun limiting gender-affirming care for young patients since Trump returned to office — even in states where the care is legal and protected by state law.

What does the lawsuit say?

What we know:

The lawsuit accuses HHS of circumventing legal requirements to coerce health care providers to stop giving gender-affirming care. According to the lawsuit, federal law mandates that the public is notified and given an opportunity to comment before enacting substantial changes to health care policy. Neither was done before this new declaration was announced.

What we don't know:

HHS has not responded to the allegations in the lawsuit. A spokesperson declined comment to The Associated Press.

What they're saying:

"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 Tuesday.

Which states joined the lawsuit? 

The states that joined the lawsuit are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington and the District of Columbia.