19 states sue to block Kennedy's plan to curb trans care

Nineteen states and D.C. sued Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his health department to block the Trump administration's plan to curb young people's gender-affirming care. Why it matters: Kennedy announced last week he would stop Medicare and Medicaid payments to any provider offering gender-affirming care to minors, a move the Oregon-led lawsuit says "exceeds the Secretary's authority and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Medicare and Medicaid statutes."State of play: Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) said in a statement on Wednesday: "The declaration falsely claims that certain forms of gender-affirming care are 'unsafe and ineffective.'" He said the Department of Health and Human Services' move "threatens to punish any doctors, hospitals, and clinics that continue to provide it with exclusion from the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs."Joining Rayfield in the lawsuit are Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), and the Democratic attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington and D.C.The other side: An HHS spokesperson on Thursday referred Axios to the department's Dec. 18 statement announcing the proposed funding ban, a response to President Trump's January executive order banning federal funding and support for youth gender-affirming care."Under my leadership, and answering President Trump's call to action, the federal government will do everything in its power to stop unsafe, irreversible practices that put our children at risk," Kennedy said in the statement.Zoom out: Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, consider gender-affirming care to be medically necessary and potentially lifesaving for transgender youth.Go deeper: Trump admin moves to cut hospital payments over trans care