July 9 (UPI) — The Justice Department on Wednesday announced that it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics performing gender-affirming care for minors, as the Trump administration ramps up its attacks on this marginalized community.
No information about the doctors and clinics subpoenaed was provided by the Justice Department, though it suggested the subpoenas were part of investigations into “healthcare fraud, false statements and more.”
“Medical professionals and organizations that mutilate children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
On June 18, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors.
The subpoenas come despite every major American medical association supporting gender-affirming care for both adults and youth, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Gender-affirming care includes a range of therapies, from psychological, behavioral and medical interventions, with surgeries for minors being exceedingly rare. According to a recent Harvard study, cisgender minors and adults were far more likely to undergo analogous gender-affirming surgeries than their transgender counterparts.
Despite the support of the medical community and the evidence, conservatives, Republicans and the Trump administration have continued to target this community with legislation affecting their medical care and rights.
The subpoenas were announced the same day that the Federal Trade Commission hosted a day-long workshop titled “The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors,” during which Melissa Holyoak, an FTC commissioner, said that while they cannot make policy decisions limiting gender-affirming care, they can target the medical practice for deceptive statements.
“The FTC has previously enforced — and will continue to enforce — against deceptive representations made by medical practitioners, including claims in connection with treatments for transgender children,” she said, according to a copy of her remarks.
Also on Wednesday, the Department of Justice sued California over alleged Title IX violations concerning transgender athletes competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
The Democratic-led state has refused to comply with the Trump administration’s ban on transgender women and girls competing in sports that align with their gender identity.
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders targeting transgender Americans, including one directing the federal government to recognize only two sexes determined at “conception,” another restricting gender-affirming care for youth and a third banning transgender Americans from the military.
