A federal judge in Oregon ruled on Thursday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overstepped his authority when he declared that gender-affirming care for minors was neither “safe nor effective” and did not meet “professional recognized standards of health care.”
U.S. District Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled in favor of 21 Democrat-led states who challenged Kennedy’s attempt to create a national standard against gender-affirming care for trans and gender-nonconforming minors, saying that the guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services violated their rights to regulate medical practices. Kennedy had issued the 12-page declaration on Dec. 18 last year, saying the guidance “supersedes” statewide or national standards of care.
The HHS declaration had cast doubt on the standards of care backed by major medical organizations like the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association, which characterize gender-affirming care as safe and effective. It also came at the same time as HHS unveiled three proposed rules that sought to prevent medical providers from receiving Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements if they provided transition care for youth. Soon after, HHS referred 13 medical institutions that provide such care to the department inspector general’s office for investigation, according to court documents.
