A federal judge appointed under the former Biden administration has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a Health and Human Services declaration that labeled gender-transition procedures for minors “neither safe nor effective.”
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, appointed to the federal bench in Oregon in 2023, ruled Monday that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. exceeded his authority and failed to follow required administrative rulemaking procedures when he issued the declaration in December.
The ruling grants preliminary relief to health professionals who provide the treatments and prevents the federal government from enforcing the declaration against hospitals and providers. Kasubhai also denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case.
Kennedy’s declaration stated that “sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors.” It defined those procedures as “puberty-suppressing hormones, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries such as mastectomies, vaginoplasties, and other procedures that attempt to align an individual’s physical appearance or body with an asserted identity that differs from the individual’s sex.”
The case, Oregon v. Kennedy, was brought by 20 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., that have legalized such procedures.
At the conclusion of a six-hour hearing, Kasubhai criticized the administration’s approach.”That notion that ‘I will go forward, 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 the democratic public that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as sacred.”
The federal government argued that Kennedy’s declaration was a “non-binding policy position” on the safety of pediatric treatment and was exempt from formal rulemaking requirements. “Secretary Kennedy, just like anyone else, is entitled to articulate his opinion on the safety and efficacy of emerging and controversial medical practices,” the government said in a February 10 brief.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the 20-state coalition, praised the ruling. “Young people are losing access to life-saving treatment, families are being left in the dark, and medical providers are being threatened just for doing their jobs and following standards of care,” James said in a statement. “Health care services for transgender young people remain legal, and the federal government cannot intimidate or punish the providers who offer them.”
A written decision is forthcoming from Kasubhai following Monday’s oral ruling.
The House passed the MTG-sponsored Protect Children’s Innocence Act earlier this Congress, which would make it a federal crime to perform gender-transition procedures on minors.
