A federal judge in Maryland blocked the order in another restraining order on Feb. 13.
A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting money that flows to organizations providing transgender procedures to individuals under 19 years of age.
The Feb. 14 temporary restraining order, issued by Judge Lauren King of the Western District of Washington, came after another issued the day before from a judge in Maryland.
Multiple doctors joined Washington state, Oregon, and Minnesota in suing the Trump administration. In a motion for a temporary restraining order, the plaintiffs focused on two sections of Trump’s Executive Order entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”
One of the sections in the order directs the head of each agency “that provides research or education grants to medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals” to “immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”
Another directs the attorney general to review Department of Justice (DOJ) enforcement of federal law prohibiting female genital mutilation and to “prioritize enforcement of protections against female genital mutilation.”
In Maryland, Judge Brendan Hurson blocked the section on grant funding, as well as another from Trump’s executive order titled: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” Hurson’s order targeted a section that reads: “Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology. Each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology.”
In both cases, the plaintiffs argued that the administration violated the constitution’s separation of powers by attempting to usurp legislative power over appropriating funds. They also argued that the administration was violating a Fifth Amendment guarantee to equal protection by discriminating.
“The Order facially discriminates against transgender and gender-diverse people by stigmatizing, defunding, and purporting to criminalize health care that is lawful, state-regulated, medically appropriate and necessary, and specific to their health needs, while the same care is provided to cisgender people for other purposes,” the lawsuit in Washington read.
By Sam Dorman
