Oregon’s attorney general is joining a lawsuit against the Trump administration over an executive order that aims to block access to gender-affirming care for transgender children and young adults.

The order, which was signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 28, seeks to cut off federal funding from institutions that provide hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgical treatment for transgender children and young adults.

The suit was filed by Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown in the Western District of Washington, and is joined by Oregon and Minnesota. The lawsuit accuses the president, and other members of the executive branch, of “attempts to dictate medical care by executive fiat.”

“The Order is a cruel and baseless broadside against transgender youth, their families, and the doctors and medical institutions that provide them this critical care,” the suit says. ”It is an official statement of bigotry from the President that directs agencies to openly discriminate against vulnerable youth on the basis of their transgender status and sex.”

The states argue this order violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee by singling out transgender individuals for discrimination.

“Families should work directly with their providers, not politicians, to make decisions about personal health care,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement. “We will not stand by as the President tries to unilaterally impose his harmful political agenda on Oregonians.”

The states also argue that the president cannot legally claw back research funding that has been authorized by the U.S. Congress for medical institutions .

In Trump’s order, he argues that medical transition, a process that some transgender people choose to align their physical appearance with their gender identity, amounts to mutilation and is based on junk science.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/07/oregon-washington-lawsuit-trump-order-transgender-health-care/