Judge blocks Trump order curbing youth gender transition treatments

By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) -A federal judge on Thursday blocked U.S. health agencies from enforcing President Donald Trump's order ending all federal funding or support for healthcare that aids gender transitions for people younger than 19.

U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson in Greenbelt, Maryland, who was appointed by Trump's Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, issued the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit by families of transgender teens and LGBT advocacy groups, the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the plaintiffs, announced.

Trump, a Republican, said in his January 28 order that 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, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures."

The order directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to "take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children." That could include imposing conditions on healthcare providers receiving any federal funds, which virtually all hospitals do.

The treatments at issue, often called gender-affirming care, include puberty-blocking medication, hormones and sometimes surgery.

In their lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier this month, the families, who are represented by Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union, said hospitals immediately began canceling appointments for gender-affirming care in response to Trump's order, leaving them without access to necessary treatments.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)