“As state attorneys general, we stand firmly in support of healthcare policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people,” the statement read.
A total of 14 attorneys general signed the statement including Rob Bonta of California, Letitia James of New York and Andrea Joy Campbell of New York, who led the charge.
The statement comes days after President Trump issued an executive order threatening federal support for treatments like puberty blockers, hormone replacement and surgery for young people.
The Jan. 28 order seeks to restrict transition-related care for adolescents and young adults as old as 19 and calls on the federal government to pause spending on care through government-run insurance programs like Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE.
Some medical centers in the U.S. have temporarily stopped providing gender-affirming care in response to the order, like NYU Langone Health’s Tisch Hospital and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, which both previously offered transgender youth services.
The order directs federal agencies to stop funding for medical institutions that provide transgender health care services to minors and young adults.
The Democratic attorneys general argued Trump’s executive order was wrong on the “science and the law.”
Both Bonta and James said earlier this week that hospitals denying patients gender-affirming care run the risk of violating anti-discrimination laws. And several families with transgender children have sued the Trump administration over the executive order, arguing it unlawful and unconstitutional.
“Despite what the Trump Administration has suggested, there is no connection between 'female genital mutilation' and gender-affirming care, and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful,” the statement adds. “President Trump cannot change that by Executive Order.”
