HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut has joined 17 other states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration for its attempts to restrict gender-affirming care for minors and young adults..
Attorney General William Tong joined Attorney General Rob Bonta of California and Attorney General Kwame Raoul of Illinois in a virtual call announcing the lawsuit last week. The lawsuit argues that the administration is overstepping its authority by using threats of criminal prosecution and federal investigations to pressure health care providers, and asks the court to block the administration’s actions.
Tong said while the legal arguments in the case may center around rights, the rule of law, and health care, ultimately the lawsuit is about people.
“The question I have for the president and [U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and anyone who wants to attack children and families, and health care, and transgender people, and gender affirming care, my only question is what would you do if your kid, your child was diagnosed with gender dysphoria?” Tong said. “I know what I would do. I would fight for my kid every single day. And that’s what we’re doing right here.”
The lawsuit is in response to two executive orders that Trump issued on his first day in office. The first stated the United States would only recognize two sexes and called for an end to federal funding for what it referred to as “gender ideology.” The second order directed the Department of Justice to pursue enforcement actions against practitioners of gender affirming care on patients 19 years of age and younger.
Since the orders, the DOJ has issued over 20 subpoenas across the nation.
“U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and her team have decided to block gender-affirming care for individuals under 19 years of age and threaten health care providers, licenses, livelihoods, and liberty,” Bonta said. “Trump, Bondi and their allies have undermined trained medical professionals, trampled over states’ rights, overstepped their constitutional authority, and endangered vulnerable minors and 18-year-old adults.”
During a press briefing following the attorneys generals’ call, Tong characterized the Trump administration’s executive orders as a “war on America’s children.”
“The actions that they have taken to deny care to children, to patients, to families is unlawful and unconstitutional,” he said. “It’s arbitrary. It’s capricious. And it’s contrary to law. And their efforts to ban care, where they have no business, no right to ban care, are unlawful. It is the state’s business. This is the sovereign state of Connecticut last time I checked.”
The administration’s actions have had an effect on the future availability of gender-affirming care for minors in the state.
Earlier this month, two Connecticut hospitals – Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Yale New Haven Health – announced they were reducing their gender-affirming care services for minors, with Yale stating that it would no longer offer provide medication treatment, while CCMC has chosen to “wind down” all of its services for minors.
Heather Page, who lives in Bethel with her transgender daughter, said the decision to end gender-affirming care was not made in the best decision of her child, but out of fear of threats from the federal government.
“Yale New Haven Health’s decision to cease medical treatment sends a message that people like my daughter and transgender people do not deserve the same standard of care and support as others,” she said. “It sends a message that they don’t matter and that they aren’t worth fighting for. This isn’t just about one program, it’s about the right to exist safely and access the care needed to thrive. As access to this care becomes increasingly unavailable, I am worried. I’m worried about the safety and quality of options.”