Attorney General Letitia James said the state’s anti-discrimination laws require that the procedures remain available.
New York Attorney General Letitia James warned hospitals Monday that discontinuing transgender procedures for minors in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting federal funding for such services would violate state law.
In a Feb. 3 letter to health care providers, James said that state anti-discrimination laws remain in effect regardless of federal funding availability. She cited protections for individuals based on “gender identity,” among other characteristics.
“Electing to refuse services to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination under New York law,” James wrote.
Her warning follows Trump’s Jan. 28 executive order, which bars federal support for gender transition procedures for individuals under 19. The order stated that such treatments—including puberty blockers and surgeries—are medically risky and potentially irreversible. Many minors lack the capacity to fully understand the long-term consequences of undergoing such procedures, the order stated.
“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” Trump’s order reads. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
Trump’s directive prohibits federally run insurance programs like TRICARE and Medicaid from covering such treatments, orders the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pursue legal action against the practice, and restricts funding for hospitals and universities providing “gender-affirming care,” which the order describes as “chemical and surgical mutilation.”
Following the order, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a directive suspending federal grants, loans, and financial assistance related to these programs pending further review.
A coalition of 23 attorneys general, including James, sued in federal court to block the OMB directive, arguing that the funding freeze was unlawful. On Jan. 31, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell issued a temporary restraining order, prohibiting the Trump administration from pausing, freezing, or terminating federal financial assistance while the case is litigated.
In response, the DOJ filed a Feb. 3 court notice, confirming compliance with the restraining order by notifying federal agencies, employees, contractors, and grantees. However, the DOJ contested the order’s scope, arguing that it does not restrict Trump’s authority to set federal spending priorities or apply to agencies not explicitly named in the lawsuit. The administration also sought clarification from the court to ensure proper adherence to the ruling.
James’s letter to health providers repeatedly references the restraining order, asserting that federal agencies cannot take actions that would block or terminate funding outside the limits of existing law or grant agreements.
“This includes prohibiting actions to implement a now-rescinded memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget, or to implement the President’s recently signed Executive Orders directing that funding be frozen,” James wrote.
Some hospitals in Colorado, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., have paused transgender procedures for minors while reviewing Trump’s order and potential legal risks.