A group of seven families, as well as LGBTQ+ advocates and medical organizations, have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and his administration over an executive order to ban federal funding for transgender healthcare for individuals under the age of 19.
The lawsuit was filed in Baltimore federal court and seeks an immediate injunction to delay the implementation of Trump’s executive order from last week.
“Over the past week, hospitals across the country have abruptly halted medical care for transgender people under nineteen, canceling appointments and turning away some patients who have waited years to receive medically necessary care for gender dysphoria,” the lawsuit reads.
“This sudden shutdown in care was the direct and immediate result of an Executive Order that President Trump issued on January 28, 2025 — Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation — directing all federal agencies to ‘immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end gender-affirming medical care for people under nineteen (the “Denial of Care Order”).”
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The denial of care order follows on the heels of another executive order Trump signed on Jan. 20, 2025, to defend women from gender ideology extremism and restore biological truth to the federal government.
The group of plaintiffs claims executive orders are unlawful and unconstitutional, saying the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse.
“The president does not have unilateral power to withhold federal funds that have been previously authorized by Congress and signed into law, and the President does not have the power to impose his own conditions on the use of funds when Congress has not delegated to him the power to do so,” the lawsuit reads. “President Trump’s directives to cut off funding have had concrete and immediate effects. Hospitals across the country, including those that have provided medical care to the Transgender Plaintiffs, have ended the provision of ongoing and essential gender-affirming medical care to transgender patients under nineteen because of the Executive Orders.”
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The lawsuit is the latest to come out of Trump’s recently signed executive orders relating to gender.
The executive orders, signed in late January, include a reinstatement of the ban on transgender troops in the military, a ban on federal funding for sex changes for minors and a directive requiring federal agencies to recognize only “two sexes,” male and female, in official standard of conduct.
“This ban betrays fundamental American values of equal opportunity and judging people on their merit,” Jennifer Levi, director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), said in a statement about the trans military ban.
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GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) were among the first groups to file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration for its military ban. The lawsuit, Talbott v. Trump, was brought forward on equal protection grounds by six active-duty service members and two individuals attempting to enlist, according to the groups’ announcement.
The plaintiffs include a Sailor of the Year honoree, a Bronze Star recipient and several who were awarded meritorious service medals. They were identified as U.S. Army Reservist Lt. Nicolas Talbott, Army Maj. Erica Vandal, Army Sgt. 1st Class Kate Cole, Army Capt. Gordon Herrero, Navy Ensign Dany Danridge, Air Force Master Sgt. Jamie Hash, and Koda Nature and Cael Neary. The latter two are civilians who are seeking to enlist in the military.
Another lawsuit, filed by a transgender inmate receiving taxpayer-funded medical treatment, is challenging Trump’s executive order that ends medical transgender treatments — such as hormones, sex changes and grooming accommodations — for federal prisoners.
The unnamed inmate, who goes by “Maria Moe” in court documents and is represented by GLAD Law, NCLR and Lowenstein Sandler LLP, is claiming Trump and the Bureau of Prisons are violating the Fifth and Eighth amendments and claims to be “at imminent risk of losing access to the medical care she needs to treat her gender dysphoria.”
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
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