Some hospitals across the country have paused, or are at least reconsidering, gender-affirming care for minors, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for such care.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the executive order.
Jay Kaplan, an attorney for the ACLU of Michigan, said executive orders are policy directives, not laws.
"Essentially, what this administrative order is saying is that if you're providing gender affirming care, even if you're not using any federal dollars in the provision of that care, if you receive any federal funds as an entity, we will take away those federal funds," Kaplan said.
Kaplan held that the executive order is unconstitutional for several reasons. First, he argued that the executive branch is exceeding its authority by attempting to rescind funding allocated by Congress.
Kaplan also noted that discrimination based on sex, and the targeting of a group of people for discriminatory treatment by the government, is illegal under the Affordable Care Act and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Typically, hormone replacement therapy is not prescribed until late adolescence, and gender-affirming surgeries for trans youth are rare.
The ACLU of Michigan has received phone calls from individuals who said they had trouble accessing gender-affirming care, Kaplan said. The ACLU has followed up with several care providers to urge them to continue providing such services.
"Nothing has changed in the state of Michigan with regards to our civil rights laws, which provide explicit protections on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. And that includes the provision of medical care," Kaplan said. "We are just going to let these these these medical programs know that they could be in violation of our state civil rights laws."
Hear Jay Kaplan's full conversation with April Baer on the Stateside podcast.
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GUESTS ON TODAY’S SHOW:
- Jay Kaplan, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan
