NYC Hospitals Must Continue to Provide Gender-Affirming Care Despite Federal Attacks 

NEW YORK CITY – Two New York City hospital systems reportedly canceled appointments for young patients seeking gender-affirming care following President Trump’s executive order threatening federal funding cuts to providers of such services. Another hospital system has reportedly removed information about care for transgender youth from its website. Today, the ACLU, the ACLU of Maryland, Lambda Legal, and the law firms Hogan Lovells and Jenner & Block filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the executive order. Among the plaintiffs are New Yorkers who have been denied access to medically-necessary care by NYU Langone due to the executive order. In response, the New York Civil Liberties Union released the following statement attributable to Executive Director Donna Lieberman:  

“The NYCLU is extremely disturbed by the fact that New York hospital systems and health care providers are cutting off or rolling back medically-necessary care for young people because of Trump’s anti-trans executive order.  

“Let’s make something abundantly clear – Trump’s order sends a cruel message that the needs of trans youth do not matter. It is meant to intimidate, and it violates federal law, as the ACLU’s lawsuit today demonstrates. Denying care to trans young people also violates our state’s anti-discrimination laws and the Equal Rights Amendment that the people of New York enshrined in our state constitution last November.  

“As the Trump administration continues trying to erase the existence of trans people, we will fight back. Our state’s hospitals and providers must uphold their commitment to trans youth and their families, and not give in to discriminatory policies that violate the law.”