Federal judge slams DOJ's attempt to intimidate gender-affirming hospital - LGBTQ Nation

"A federal judge has slammed Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) as "untrustworthy" in a ruling preventing it from acquiring information on transgender minors receiving gender-affirming care from Rhode Island's largest hospital. The ruling joins at least seven other similar federal court rulings against civil subpoenas the DOJ sent last year to over 20 providers of gender-affirming care nationwide."

"U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy rejected the DOJ's assertion that its subpoenas are part of an investigation into health providers violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by prescribing "off-label" use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat youth. The medications have been used safely and effectively for decades to treat rare cancers, precocious puberty, and gender dysphoria."

""The administration has publicly characterized gender-affirming care for minors as abuse, directed the [justice department] to bring its practice to an end, and celebrated when hospitals curtailed such programs as a result of this subpoena campaign," McElroy wrote in her decision, which also accused DOJ attorneys of misrepresenting important facts under oath."

"McElroy also slammed the DOJ's "forum shopping," trying to circumvent its numerous court losses against the subpoenas by getting conservative Texas Judge Reed O'Connor to sign off on them. "[The DOJ] did so in an obvious effort to shield its recent investigative tactics-previously rejected by every other court to review them-from this Court's review, in favor of a distant forum that DOJ deems friendly to its political positions," the judge wrote, calling the DOJ untrustworthy."

A federal judge barred the U.S. Department of Justice from obtaining information about transgender minors receiving gender-affirming care from Rhode Island’s largest hospital. The judge rejected DOJ claims that the subpoenas were part of an investigation into alleged violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act involving “off-label” use of puberty blockers and hormones for youth. The ruling noted that these medications have been used safely and effectively for decades for conditions including rare cancers, precocious puberty, and gender dysphoria. The decision also criticized DOJ attorneys for misrepresenting facts under oath and described the DOJ’s efforts to use a more favorable court as “forum shopping.”

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