States Sue HHS to Keep Federal Dollars for Transgender Procedures for Minors

A coalition of 19 Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over proposed measures aimed at preventing federal dollars from being spent on transgender procedures for minors. The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 23 in Oregon, and it names the HHS, its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and its inspector general as defendants. At issue is a pair of proposed rules from the HHS’s Centers for Medicaid and Medicare. The first would prohibit doctors and hospitals from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursement for transgender-related treatments for children and adolescents, ranging from puberty-suppressing drugs to cross-sex hormones to surgical procedures such as breast removal....