A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s order denying federal funding to clinics and hospitals that provide transgender surgeries for minors.
U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson of Maryland, a Biden appointee, has also ordered the defendants to submit a status report by March 11, outlining their compliance with the court’s ruling.
The lawsuit, filed in February by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal, and other advocacy groups, represents multiple families and youths affiliated with PFLAG National, a nonprofit supporting the friends and families of LGBTQ individuals. The plaintiffs argued that Trump’s executive order had disrupted their access to medical care, NBC News reported.
The executive order prohibited hospitals and clinics receiving federal funds from providing transgender surgery and similar care to individuals under 19.
Last month, Hurson temporarily blocked the order, leading many healthcare providers who had previously suspended care to resume services under the court’s restraining order.
Hurson stated in Tuesday’s order that the plaintiffs demonstrated the hardships they faced were due to the discontinuation of what medical professionals considered “essential care.” He remarked that these hardships could be “potentially catastrophic.”
“Specifically, the sudden denial or interruption of Plaintiffs’ medical care has caused or is expected to soon cause unwanted physical changes, depression, increased anxiety, heightened gender dysphoria, severe distress, risk of suicide, uncertainty about how to obtain medical care, impediments to maintaining a social life, and fear of discrimination, including hate crimes,” he wrote.
In court papers, the Trump administration opposed the plaintiffs’ request for relief, stating that their “arguments concern hypothetical downstream action that may or may not result from” the executive order. The administration further argued that the “plaintiffs here may be incidentally harmed depending on how those institutions react.”
Hurson’s preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the court decides on the merits of the case, NBC News noted.
Last month, Vice President JD Vance sent another warning to “rogue” federal judges who he feels are abusing their authority to improperly impede Trump as head of the Executive Branch.
So far, the courts have blocked Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship, freeze federal grants, and overhaul federal agencies. And recently, the administration faced another setback when a federal judge temporarily restricted Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the Treasury Department’s extensive federal payment system, which holds sensitive information about millions of Americans.
“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” Vance said.
Following those remarks, Trump was asked about Vance’s comments and his court setbacks.
“When a president can’t look for fraud and waste and abuse, we don’t have a country anymore,” Trump told reporters. “So, we’re very disappointed, but with the judges that would make such a ruling. But we have a long way to go.”
“No judge should, frankly, be allowed to make that kind of a decision,” the president added. “It’s a disgrace.”
Republicans are largely united in their support of the president. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton criticized the judge who blocked DOGE’s access to Treasury data, calling him an “outlaw.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, mostly defended Musk’s actions on CNN Sunday, asserting that he was “carrying out the will” of the president who appointed him.
Trump intensified the situation during a subsequent Oval Office news briefing with DOGE head Musk, stating, “Maybe we have to look at the judges because I think that’s a very serious violation.”