New York and 11 other states are suing the Department of Health and Human Services over the Trump administration’s demands that states comply with anti-trans executive orders or face the loss of federal funding.
The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Health and Human Services is unlawfully requiring states to comply with Executive Order 14168, officially titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” as a condition of federal funding. The executive order, signed by President Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration on Jan. 20 of last year, effectively erases the federal government’s recognition of transgender individuals.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island and also included Oregon, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
“The federal government is trying to force states to choose between their values and the vital funding their residents depend on,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a written statement. “This policy threatens health care for families, life-saving research, and education programs that help young people thrive in favor of denying the dignity and existence of transgender people. New York will not abandon our values, our laws, and above all, our residents. My office is suing to block this cruel and unjust directive.”
In announcing the lawsuit, James said the Trump administration’s policy would force states to discriminate against individuals in violation of state-based anti-discrimination law. If the policy stands, states could face significant financial setbacks, including in New York, where more than $80 billion in grant funding — including for health services, research, HIV prevention and treatment, substance use, and mental health programs — is threatened by the administration’s policy, according to James’ office.
The states also charged that the Department of Health and Human Services is requiring states to certify compliance with the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX, which, under the current president, excludes trans individuals. The policy, according to the states, threatens not only new funding, but existing funding.
The states are asking that the court block the policy and declare it unlawful.
The lawsuit was filed less than three weeks after New York and 18 states sued the Trump administration for similar reasons after the White House announced proposed rules last month stipulating that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would require hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs to ban gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 18 and bar federal Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care for minors.
