A federal judge has overridden a Trump executive order freezing government funding for transgender surgeries.
US District Judge Brendan Hurson, of Baltimore, extended the nationwide block from last month on Tuesday on the executive order, which halted government funding for doctors providing gender-affirming care for transgender youth under age 19.
President Trump’s executive order, signed last month, states that ‘it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called “transition” of a child from one sex to another.’
The order axed federal funding to clinics providing treatment to minors in a bid to ‘rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures’ and compared transgender surgeries to ‘chemical and surgical mutilation.’
President Trump’s order prompted several high-profile hospital systems like Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC and NYU Langone in New York City to stop prescribing puberty blockers or hormones to youths or suspend care completely.
Hurson argued Trump’s executive order is ‘unconstitutional’ and goes against state policies.
US District Judge Brendan Hurson, of Baltimore, extended the nationwide block on a Trump executive order, which halted government funding for doctors providing gender-affirming care for transgender youth under age 19
Protesters fill the Iowa state Capitol to denounce a bill that would strip the state civil rights code of protections based on gender identity in February 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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He wrote this week: ‘The challenged provisions of the Executive Orders place significant conditions on federal funding that Congress did not prescribe.
‘This, the Constitution simply does not allow, as there is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes the President to enact, to amend, or to repeal statutes.’
The government funds hospital systems in order to pay for care, keep infrastructure updated, and provide care to low-income populations.
Gender-affirming care has often fallen under this umbrella because experts suggest it could improve a patient’s mental and physical health.
Hurson’s block comes after seven families of transgender or nonbinary children, along with transgender advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit over the orders last month, arguing the policy is discriminatory because it does not prohibit federal funding for the same treatments for non-transgender patients.
And just days earlier, a judge in Seattle blocked the executive order for youths in Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, and Colorado in a lawsuit from attorneys general in those states.
Attorneys general in democrat-led states like California and New York have also urged doctors to keep providing care to transgender kids, arguing that pulling the plug on trans care services would violate state laws.
As of December 2024, 26 states have passed bans on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children and teenagers, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
The above map from the Movement Advancement Project shows states with bans or restrictions on transgender care. States in dark green have ‘shield’ laws protecting care access, while those in light green have ‘shield’ executive orders in place. States in tan neither have bans nor ‘shield’ laws. Those in light orange have bans on surgeries for trans youth, and those in dark orange have bans on medications and surgeries. If a state has a red symbol, it is a felony to provide certain care in these states
Transition surgery, which can include removing the breasts (also called ‘top surgery’) and changes to genitalia, under 18 is extremely rare and decided on a case-by-case basis by teams of primary care doctors, psychologists, endocrinologists, and surgeons.
Trans children typically begin their transition with puberty blockers. These medications delay the onset of puberty to provide the child and their family with more time to decide whether to pursue hormone therapies.
Hormone therapies, meanwhile, typically begin in a child’s teenage years to help them develop secondary sex characteristics. A girl transitioning to become a boy, for instance, may take hormones to deepen their voice and grow body hair.
After undergoing hormone therapy, a trans person may choose to undergo surgery to medically transition, though not everyone does this.
