States Sue HHS Over Gender Care

A coalition of 19 states and the United States — Washington, D.C., led by United States — New York (state) Attorney General Letitia James, has sued the United States — United States Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., over a declaration that restricts access to gender-affirming care for young people. The declaration, issued last Thursday, deemed treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria, threatening doctors with exclusion from federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid if they provide such care. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, United States — Oregon, alleges the declaration is inaccurate and unlawful, seeking to block its enforcement. This action is part of a broader conflict, including proposed federal rules by the United States — United States Department of Health and Human Services to further limit gender-affirming care and a recent United States — Supreme Court of the United States decision upholding United States — Tennessee's ban on such care for minors. Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, oppose these restrictions.