Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark prevailed Saturday in a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration over a declaration that sought to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
In December, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a declaration describing “sex-rejecting procedures” for minors as “neither safe nor effective,” and saying that treatments in that category failed to meet professionally recognized standards for care. The department indicated that it had the power to exclude some institutions entirely from Medicaid and Medicare for providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors on those grounds, depending on the outcome of individual investigations.
The statement stood in opposition to many of the country’s leading professional medical associations — including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics — which are supportive of gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Clark joined an Oregon-led coalition of peers in 20 states and Washington, D.C. suing Kennedy days after his announcement.
Oregon federal judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai ruled in favor of Clark and her colleagues on Saturday, saying that Kennedy did not have legal authority to publish a document unilaterally revising standards for care. The federal government cannot act to enforce it, he said.
“This decision is a victory in our ongoing fight for bodily autonomy and the rights of transgender youth,” said Clark in a statement Monday. “We will continue to fight to ensure that gender-affirming care remains safe, effective, and protected.”
With both legal protections and robust infrastructure in place to provide such care, Vermont is positioned to become a haven for minors seeking gender-affirming care, particularly at the University of Vermont Medical Center’s Transgender Youth Program.
In December, Vermont Health Commissioner Rick Hildebrant reaffirmed the state’s commitment to supporting such care, writing: “We will continue to support providers and work to preserve access to care for vulnerable Vermont communities, regardless of any potential federal changes.”
The written opinion Saturday followed Kasubhai’s oral ruling last month granting summary judgement, meaning that the case held no real uncertainty and did not require a full trial.
“Unserious leaders are unsafe,” wrote Kasubhai in Saturday’s strongly-worded opinion. “Tragically, this case is one of a long list of examples of how a leader’s wanton disregard for the rule of law causes very real harm to very real people.”
Back in December, Kennedy also announced two proposed federal rules restricting gender-affirming care for youth, which also threaten to withhold federal healthcare funds from some providers who offer such services. Those measures are still under consideration, have not yet been challenged in court and at present have no effect on the ability of institutions to provide care.
Correction: a previous version of this story misstated the impact of the judge’s ruling.
