Hawaiʻi AG joins 14 states to challenge Trump Administration’s efforts to restrict gender-affirming care

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez today joined a coalition of 14 attorneys general to reaffirm their commitment to protecting access to gender-affirming care in the face of the Trump Administration’s recent executive order.

The executive order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” opposes “transition” procedures, including surgeries and hormone treatments, for individuals under 19 years old. Specifically, it directs government agencies to cease funding or supporting such treatments for children and mandates reviews of medical guidelines, particularly those from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. It also seeks to restrict coverage of gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs and instructs the Department of Justice to investigate fraudulent practices related to these procedures.

The coalition released the following statement: 

“As state attorneys general, we stand firmly in support of healthcare policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people. Health care decisions should be made by patients, families and doctors, not by a politician trying to restrict freedoms. Gender-affirming care is essential, lifesaving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves.”

They continued: “Trump Administration’s recent executive order is wrong on the science and the law. Despite what the Trump Administration has suggested, there is no connection between ‘female genital mutilation’ and gender-affirming care, and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful. President Trump cannot change that by executive order.”

The statement concludes: “State attorneys general will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care, in states where such enforcement authority exists, and we will challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump Administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions.”

Joining Lopez in issuing this statement are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The statement follows a court ruling last week in which Lopez and 22 other attorneys general successfully obtained a temporary injunction to halt a recent Trump Administration policy intended to block federal agency grants, loans and other financial assistance programs.