Judge rules that Trump’s health secretary did not go through proper procedures when issuing declaration
Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, overstepped his power when he declared that gender-affirming treatments are unsafe, a federal judge has ruled.
In a blow to the Trump administration’s attempts to limit access to gender transition procedures, Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled Thursday that Kennedy did not go through the proper procedures when issuing his 12-page declaration last December.
The declaration called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria and warned that doctors providing such care could be excluded from federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
But in a court in Eugene, Oregon, Kasubhai granted relief to doctors providing the treatment. He also dismissed the government attempts to dismiss the case, which was brought by 21 states and Washington DC. The plaintiffs had sued Kennedy on the alleged grounds that his declaration was inaccurate and unlawful
