Federal judge rules RFK Jr. overreached in restricting trans health care to minors 

Federal judge rules RFK Jr. overreached in restricting trans healthcare to minors 

U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai said he planned to grant summary judgment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a lawsuit brought by Democratic-led states that challenged a proposed rule to block gender-affirming care for minors at hospitals. 

In court filings on Thursday, Kashubai, a Biden-appointee, made it known that he intended to deny Kennedy’s request for dismissal and grant Oregon’s motion for summary judgment. 

In December, Kennedy issued a declaration that stated “sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors, and therefore, fail to meet professional recognized standards of health care.” 

The declaration exempted treatments for a “medically verifiable disorder of sexual development,” cosmetic procedures related to a person’s biological sex and for complications arising from a “sex-rejecting procedure.” 

The motion called for Kennedy’s declaration to be declared unlawful; to vacate and set aside the declaration; and block the secretary from implementing the proposed rule. 

The plaintiffs in the case include Oregon, Washington state, New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Masachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. 

Kashubai gave parties until April 2 to provide a supplemental briefing regarding the plaintiffs’ request. 

“The freedom to make personal healthcare decisions — with your family and your doctor — is a fundamental Oregon value,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) said in a statement on Thursday’s ruling. “It’s rooted in our belief that every person deserves dignity, compassion, and care.” 

“The court saw through the federal government’s attempt to bully hospitals and providers into abandoning their patients, and ruled on the side of those values.” 

This marks the second legal setback Kennedy has faced this week, with another Biden-appointee ruling that his new, reduced childhood immunization schedule, as well as his remaking of an influential federal vaccine committee, were both unlawful, blocking them from continuing. 

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, I’m Joseph Choi— every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

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Branch out with a different read:

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Local and state headlines on health care:

SC measles outbreak hits a milestone, as officials report no new cases (Greenville News) 

First federal rural health grants available in North Dakota aim to boost hospital workforce (North Dakota Monitor) 

Medical malpractice in Virginia was nearly overhauled. What happened? (VPM) 

Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

Oz escalates Medicaid fraud claims against states after focus on Minnesota (KFF Health News) 

Federal workers say they are demoralized and less engaged under Trump (Bloomberg) 

Nursing homes falsely diagnose patients as schizophrenic to sedate them, report says (MedPage Today) 

Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:

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