PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is leading a coalition of 19 states, including the state of Washington, in suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over its declaration that gender-affirming care for young people is unsafe and ineffective.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Eugene on Tuesday and in addition to HHS it names as defendants its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and its inspector general, Thomas March Bell.
The lawsuit alleges that the declaration made by HHS on Dec. 18 is baseless and illegal.
HHS’s declaration says gender-affirming care, which it calls “sex-rejecting procedures” like puberty blockers, hormone treatment and surgeries to change the sex of a person are unsafe and ineffective.
The phrase “gender-affirming care” is used by major medical groups that include the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The declaration says the secretary of HHS may exclude providers of gender-affirming care from participating in federal health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare.
In a news release late Tuesday, Rayfield’s office said HHS’s claims that certain forms of gender-affirming care are unsafe and ineffective are false.
“By targeting Oregon providers, HHS is putting care at risk and forcing families to choose between their personal health care choices and their doctor’s ability to practice,” Rayfield said in the news release. “Healthcare decisions belong with families and their healthcare providers, not the government.”
The Associated Press reported that an HHS spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit and a message from KATU to HHS seeking comment was not immediately returned Tuesday night.
HHS made its declaration after conducting and releasing its peer-reviewed report last month.
It said it found the risks of the treatments exceed the benefits and could harm youth in the short and long term. It said an alternative form of treatment would be psychotherapy.
Dr. Susan J. Kressly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said HHS was departing from “the longstanding principle that health care policy should be grounded in scientific evidence, clinical expertise, and the needs of children and families.”
Among its allegations, Tuesday’s lawsuit says HHS’s declaration harms the states and their ability to manage their Medicaid plans, is illegal and exceeds Kennedy’s authority as its secretary.
“The Secretary has no legal authority to substantively alter the standards of care and effectively ban, by fiat, an entire category of healthcare,” the lawsuit says.
The states want the court to declare the declaration illegal and prevent HHS from implementing it.
The declaration was announced as part of a multifaceted effort to limit gender-affirming health care for children and teenagers — and built on other Trump administration efforts to target the rights of transgender people nationwide.
HHS on Thursday 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 proposals are not yet final or legally binding and must go through a lengthy rulemaking process and public comment before becoming permanent. But they will nonetheless likely further discourage health care providers from offering gender-affirming care to children.
Several major medical providers already have pulled back on gender-affirming care for young patients since Trump returned to office — even in states where the care is legal and protected by state law.
Medicaid programs in slightly less than half of states currently cover gender-affirming care. At least 27 states have adopted laws restricting or banning the care. The Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding Tennessee’s ban means most other state laws are likely to remain in place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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