16 States (Plus Washington DC) Launch Joint Legal Fight for Trans Health Care

“[The] DOJ’s intent in issuing the subpoenas is not enforcement of the specific prohibitions of those laws but the chilling of medical care with which the administration disagrees ideologically.”

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Sixteen attorneys general from across the country, plus Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, filed a landmark federal lawsuit on August 1. The ensuing legal battle could determine the fate of states’ rights to uphold policies protecting trans-affirming health care.

“Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump and his administration have relentlessly, cruelly, and unlawfully targeted transgender individuals,” the complaint reads. “The result is an atmosphere of fear and intimidation experienced by transgender individuals, their families and caregivers, and the medical professionals who seek only to provide necessary, lawful care to their patients.”

The suit was brought by the attorneys general of fifteen states plus Washington DC. Shapiro signed on in lieu of Pennsylvania’s own AG, David Sunday, a Republican.

This comes after the last eight months have been flooded with anti-trans animus in policy and law—Trump’s executive orders, as well as the directives and memos from his lackeys across federal agencies, have attacked everything from trans-affirming health care to trans girls in sports.

However, nobody has been successfully prosecuted for the supposed “crime” of providing trans people with evidence-based and life-saving care, and for good reason: There is no federal law prohibiting it. Instead, the legal system has become a political machine used to terrorize Americans. Trump has scared health care systems into compliance using a blunt object: fear.

“Under the cumulative weight of these targeted actions against medical care providers—which baselessly threaten civil and criminal prosecution and demand burdensome production of financial and patient data—some providers are scaling back or halting this care altogether,” the complaint says.

The Administration has had to fumble for other existing statutes in order to provide a legal facade, at least on paper, for these actions. Everything from fraud, to Title IX, to female genital mutilation laws have been bastardized to this end.

“[The] DOJ’s intent in issuing the subpoenas is not enforcement of the specific prohibitions of those laws but the chilling of medical care with which the administration disagrees ideologically,” the complaint says.

The legal challenges posed by the plaintiffs here also concern civil rights more broadly in America—not just those of trans people. It takes the Trump Administration to task on the ways it has arguably steamrolled states’ rights and the Administrative Procedure Act to harass the LGBT community, and that’s likely only the beginning.

“These actions have been touted by Defendants as precisely what was intended by their unlawful and disingenuous targeting, including explicit acknowledgement as much by Defendant Trump,” the complaint says.

Moreover, cases may also be brought against hospitals or providers that refuse to give trans patients the same access to gender-affirming care as presumed-cisgender patients may receive. This care stoppage violates various states' equal protection laws and, in some cases, state constitutions.

“Not only have these federal actions harmed transgender and intersex individuals suffering from gender dysphoria, as well as their families and caregivers, but the actions are harming Plaintiff States as well,” the complaint says. “The Denial of Care Order, the DOJ directives, and the actions implementing them are impairing Plaintiff States’ authority to regulate the practice of medicine in their states and their authority to protect and enhance the health and well-being of their residents.”

The full list of states that signed on can be seen here: