On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s executive order banning funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatments to transgender youth. The order applies to the states of Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Colorado.
Newsweek contacted the White House press office for comment on Saturday via email outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Since returning to the White House on January 20, President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders impacting on transgender rights, which his supporters claim muddy the biological difference between males and females and are a threat to women’s rights.
One executive order blocked federal funding from hospitals and clinics that offer gender-affirming care to those under the age of 19, whilst another banned transgender people from serving in the military, though both have faced legal challenges.
What To Know
King, based out of Seattle, filed her preliminary injunction late on Friday just hours before a 14-day pause on the president’s directive, which she issued two weeks ago for the four states, was due to expire.
The case was first brought against the Trump administration by three anonymous doctors in Washington, Oregon and Minnesota and they were later joined by plaintiffs from Colorado.
Trump’s executive order states: “It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.”
However, the plaintiffs argued this was unconstitutional, violating the 5th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution by seeking to impose healthcare policy on individual states. They also argued that the executive restricting funding which Congress had already appropriated undermined the separation of powers.
This week also saw a Maryland judge extending a restraining order blocking the Trump administration from cutting funding to medical facilities which offered transgender healthcare in the state.
What People Are Saying
In her judgement, U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King wrote: “The Court’s holding here is not about the policy goals that President Trump seeks to advance; rather, it is about reaffirming the structural integrity of the Constitution by ensuring that executive action respects congressional authority.
“This outcome preserves an enduring system of checks and balances that the Founders considered to be ‘essential to the preservation of liberty.’”
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said: “The president’s disregard for the Constitution is obvious and intentional. But once again, states and the courts have stepped up to affirm the rule of law and the values that hold us together as a nation.”
An attorney for the Trump administration said the president’s executive order is aimed at “safeguarding children from potentially dangerous, ineffective, and unproven treatments.”
According to The Washington State Standard, in court fillings one of the doctors who brought the case said they cried “tears of joy” following King’s initial two-week temporary restraining order.
They said: “I have been carrying the heavy weight of knowing that my patients could lose their health care at any moment. I have seen many of my colleagues struggle as their institutions chose to shutter their gender-affirming care programs as a result of the Executive Order.”
What Happens Next
The legal battle over access to gender-affirming healthcare in Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Colorado looks set to continue, with no sign the Trump administration will back down. Potentially, the issue could rise up through the U.S. court system until it is settled by the Supreme Court.
The post Donald Trump Suffers Major Legal Loss in Four States appeared first on Newsweek.
