Three states’ attorneys general have taken legal action against the Trump administration on Friday, challenging their attempt to prevent children from accessing gender-altering procedures.
President Donald Trump took action in late January by signing an executive order titled “Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation.” The objective of this order is to limit the availability of “chemical and surgical” sex-change procedures for minors.
“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” the executive order stated. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
Local Democratic officials across the country have been steadfastly resisting since then, contending that Trump’s intention is to strip vulnerable American citizens of their fundamental right. Attorneys general Nick Brown of Washington state, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and Dan Rayfield of Oregon have jointly filed a lawsuit, asserting that Trump’s order is not only “cruel,” but also unconstitutional.
“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. 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 lawsuit read. “It is also a blatant abuse of power. The Order usurps spending and legislative powers belonging exclusively to Congress, and seizes the States’ historic police powers to regulate the practice of medicine in violation of the Tenth Amendment.”
The lawsuit also raised objections to the executive order’s name, arguing that the term “Surgical Mutilation” is “false and repugnant.”
The lawsuit argues that the executive order is clearly unconstitutional as it violates the right to Equal Protection guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It does so by singling out a vulnerable group for mistreatment and targeting medical treatments that affirm a patient’s gender if they are inconsistent with their assigned sex.
The lawsuit further contends that the executive order violates the constitutional principle of Separation of Powers by encroaching upon Congress’s legislative authority. Additionally, it asserts that the order runs afoul of the Tenth Amendment by asserting that the President cannot, without Congressional approval, impede on the states’ rights to provide essential medical care that is safe and effective.
During a press conference on Friday, Attorney General Nick Brown expressed his strong disapproval of Trump’s executive order, describing it as “disgusting” and “hateful.”
“This president’s order is gross, it is disgusting, it is hateful, so we will always take action against illegal conduct. But this one has special resonance because of the hate behind it,” he said. “It promotes harassment and discrimination against people that are already marginalized. It risks their literal health and safety and their-that of their providers. We are requesting a temporary restraining order to immediately halt the harm that is being done because this is an emergency.”