Trump administration blocked from obtaining thousands of trans patient’s medical records

The Trump administration has been forced to partially abandon its attempt to obtain the personal medical records of thousands of young transgender patients.

Families and patients in Los Angeles, California, secured a major win last week after the Department of Justice agreed to stop pursuing the documents containing the personal information of over 3,000 patients.

The US government announced in July last year that it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to clinics across the country over what it called an investigation into “healthcare fraud.”

Attorney general Pam Bondi said at the time that it had demanded details, such as the names, birth dates, social security numbers, and addresses, of trans young people and their parents/guardians in order to quell what she described as “a warped ideology.”

The department agreed to rescind subpoenas against the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) last Thursday (20 January) after seven families with trans children sued the department in November. The DOJ has not entirely abandoned every legal effort to seek information, but it has retreated from the personal identifying parts of the subpoena following that litigation.

Plaintiffs argued ahead of the ruling that the Justice Department had not given sufficient evidence to justify its investigation and was requesting private information without “any probable cause.”

“It was basically a fishing expedition,” Khadijah Silver, director of Gender Justice & Health Equity at Lawyers for Good Government, which represented the families, said. “Without any probable cause, they did not have the authority to be seeking medical information.”

Under the federal court ruling, the DoJ has agreed to withdraw its requests for documents identifying parents or patients, according to Cal Matters.

Silver said that the plaintiffs are seeking to dismiss the case entirely, adding: “This is one piece of a large, very important puzzle, but it does allow our clients to hold on to their basic legal right to medical privacy.”

Trump administration targets gender-affirming care for trans youth

A similar federal court ruling blocking the DoJ’s subpoena against Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC was held in the same week, arguing the demands constituted “overreach untethered to any lawful purpose.”

“The Government seeks to fulfil its policy agenda through compliance born of fear. Moreover, in the view of the court, the subpoena is a classic impermissible fishing expedition,” US district judge Julie Robin wrote in the ruling.

Both CHLA and Children’s National Hospital were forced to shutter their gender-affirming care programmes for trans youngsters last year.

They are among a handful of hospitals who, over the past year, have closed their trans youth care programs over “legal and financial risks” despite residing in states that legally permit treatment.

One of the hospitals facing pressure from the US government, Boston Children’s Hospital, refused to close its services, saying in August that it firmly believes its gender-affirming care programmes are vital.

“The belief that all children deserve the opportunity to live, grow, and thrive with love and support is foundational to who we are and what we do,” a spokesperson said.

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