Washington, D.C. – A โcoalition of legal organizations filedโ a lawsuit today challenging a recent Trump administration directive that blocks military hospitals from providing medically necessary care to transgender dependents of service members. Teh lawsuit argues the policy illegally restricts access to healthcare and undermines โฃthe well-being ofโฃ military families.
The directive, implemented thru an executive order, โprevents military healthcare โฃfacilities from offering gender-affirming care – care deemed necessary by doctors and approved by parents – to transgender children and youth of service members. legal advocates contend this abrupt change in policy disregards established medical protocols and places undue hardship on families already navigating the challenges of military life.
“When a servicemember is deployed and focused on the โmission they deserve to know their family โฃis taken care of,” โฃstated Sasha Buchert, Staff Attorney at GLAD Law. “This Administration has backtrackedโฃ on that core promise and โคput servicemembers at risk of losingโ access to health โฃcare their children desperately need.”
Shannon Minter, Legal Director at NCLR, condemned theโ action as โขan overreach of presidential authority. “President Trump has illegallyโข overstepped his authority by abruptly cutting off necessary medical care for military families,” Minter said.โข “This lawless directive is part of a risky โpatternโ of this administration ignoring legal requirements and abandoning our servicemembers.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court,โ names the Department of Defence as theโค defendant. Attorneys Sharif Jacob and Liam Brown, partners โand associates at Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP respectively, are representing the plaintiffs.
“Presidentโค Trump’s Executive Order blocksโฃ military hospitals fromโฃ giving transgender youth the care their doctors deem necessary and their parents have approved,” explained Jacob.โค “Today we filed a lawsuit to put an end to his order, and the agency guidance implementing it.”
Brown added, “This administration is unlawfully targetingโ military familiesโข by denying essentialโ care toโ their transgender children. We will not stand by while those who serve are stripped of the ability to care for their families.”
This legal challenge is the latest in a series of actions taken by the Trump administration impacting transgenderโข individuals, including attempts toโ ban transgenderโฃ people from military service – a policy currently being litigated in aโ separate case, Talbott v. USA, where GLAD Law and NCLR represent plaintiffs. The administration has faced multiple federal lawsuits over a broader pattern of discriminatory executive orders aimed atโข limiting the rights of transgender Americans.
details about the case, Doe v.โค Department of Defense,โ are available at https://www.gladlaw.org/cases/doe-v-dod/.