Trump Transgender Health-Care Ban for Youths Blocked Nationwide

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily halted the Trump administration’s enforcement of an executive order that shut down gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.

In a win for transgender rights advocates, Judge Brendan Abell Hurson of the US District Court for the District of Maryland blocked the order nationwide, the Lambda Legal Legal Defense & Education Fund said in a statement. The restraining order bans federal agencies from conditioning or withholding federal funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender-affirming medical care to a patient under 19, the group said.

The executive order, issued Jan. 28, is the latest move to limit transgender individuals’ access to health care. Over two dozen states already ban gender-affirming care for minors, and several state Medicaid programs refuse to cover it.

The order directed agencies to immediately revoke federal funding from entities that provide it.

It essentially bans care in states that still allow it—even when sought by adults between 18 and 19 years old—and eliminates Medicaid coverage for low-income transgender Americans of all ages everywhere.

The plaintiffs are two transgender adults, five minors, their parents, PFLAG Inc., and the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights Inc. They said the order also unconstitutionally usurps Congress’ power of the purse by taking federal money that has already been allocated away from medical institutions, providers, and researchers.

Federal officials argued in return that the request for a temporary restraining order wasn’t ripe because no agency has yet to revoke federal funding for facilities that provide gender-affirming care. Any injunctive relief, moreover, must be limited to the named plaintiffs, the officials said.

In addition to Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland, Jenner & Block LLP, and Hogan Lovells US LLP represent the plaintiffs.

The case is PFLAG v. Trump, D. Md., No. 25-cv-337, temporary restraining order issued 2/13/25.