A federal judge in Baltimore has extended a nationwide injunction against President Donald Trump’s executive orders that sought to halt federal funding for providers offering gender-affirming healthcare to transgender individuals under the age of 19.
This decision to extend the injunction follows a lawsuit filed by families with transgender or nonbinary children, alongside LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and medical organizations, who argued that the orders compromised essential healthcare services.
The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson maintains the suspension of these executive orders while the legal proceedings continue. The Trump administration is anticipated to appeal this ruling.
In response to the original executive orders, several hospitals nationwide had paused gender-affirming care for minors to avoid potential loss of federal funding. This interruption in services prompted legal challenges, including a separate lawsuit where a judge in Seattle blocked the orders in four states.
Trump’s orders are aimed to protect impressionable minors from life-changing decisions with irreversible impacts.
Trump’s order states: “Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions. This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
These legal disputes are part of a broader context, with over 100 lawsuits filed opposing various executive orders issued by President Trump aimed at reversing policies from the previous administration. The outcomes of these cases will significantly impact the availability of gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth across the United States.
