Federal Judge Rules Against RFK jr's Latest Attack on Trans Youth Gender Affirming Healthcare

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaking with attendees at the Memorial for Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona / Wikipedia

A federal Judge in Oregon ruled Friday that RFK jr overreached when he issued a declaration that prohibited hospitals from administering gender-affirming care to minors. The Health and Human Services department has subsequently opened investigations of 13 hospitals and threatened those who did not comply with the loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding.

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— Planet Trans (@kellibusey.bsky.social) March 21, 2026 at 4:59 PM

After a six-hour hearing in the case in Eugene, Ore., on Thursday, Judge Mustafa Kasubhai of U.S. District Court said that Mr. Kennedy had not followed normal procedures before publishing his declaration on the issue, the NY Times reports.

The judge, who was appointed to the bench by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., said that the case spoke to broader tactics that threatened to undermine democracy.

“The notion that ‘I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance that adheres to the overarching commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as sacred,” the judge said.

A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia had sued HHS, Kennedy and its inspector general over the declaration, alleging that it is inaccurate and unlawful and asking the court to block its enforcement, the AP reports.

Major medical groups and those who treat transgender young people have sharply criticized the report as inaccurate, and most major U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to oppose restrictions on transgender care and services for young people.

Trump adds Anti-Trans riders to voter Suppression Save Act

Photo by cottonbro studio

President Donald Trump just added banning life saving gender affirming transgender care to the Save Act, saying he will refuse to sign any legislation if the Senate doesn't acquiesce to his demand.

According to The 19th* the Save Act could keep over 70 million people, mainly women and trans people, from voting in the midterm elections.

Voting rights groups maintain the SAVE America Act would pose a barrier for millions of women and others who have changed their legal names. An estimated 69 million American women and 4 million men do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.

With or without the SAVE America Act, trans Americans’ ability to vote has been jeopardized as more states restrict whether trans people can access accurate IDs and birth certificates, advocates say. In Kansas (and in Texas), trans residents’ licenses are being invalidated because of a new state law that requires gender markers to match a person’s sex at birth. Kansas requires a state ID to vote.

Why the push now to disenfranchise voters, and why did Trump add the anti-trans provisions?

Trump knows the Republicans are doomed in a fair midterm election and face a strong Democratic party that will likely take control of the House. The best chance the GOP has is to cheat by limiting who can vote. Both Speaker Johnson and Trump recently said they will be impeached for betraying the American people should the Republicans lose in the Midterms.

Speaker Johnson was just caught on a hot mike acknowledging that Trump’s voter suppression “Save Act” would lower voter turnout out by 12% to 18% and “that would be huge for us.” Historically Republicans win elections when they can keep voter turnout low.

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— Planet Trans (@kellibusey.bsky.social) March 21, 2026 at 5:34 AM

Trump has resorted to using transgender children as political pawns in a Hail Mary play, hoping to get the Save Act past the filibuster in the Senate. The Filibuster is just another word for the 60-vote threshold that bills normally must have to pass.