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The Trump administration\u2019s attempts to block transgender care for young people\u00a0has led to protests like this one in February in Washington.<\/p>\n
Heather Diehl\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
In a case that could extend the Trump administration\u2019s war against\u00a0transgender care to states like California where the medical treatment is legal, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Justice Department can order a clinic to release records of doctors who provide gender-affirming care and patients who receive it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President may have moral and political objections to gender-affirming care, wish to end it, and take steps to achieve that goal consistent with law,\u201d the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said\u00a0in a 2-1 ruling<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While states regulate the practice of medicine within their borders, Judge Carlos\u00a0Bea said in the majority opinion that a state \u201ccannot shield a resident company from having to comply with federal law.\u201d And in this case, Bea said, President Donald Trump\u2019s Justice Department was conducting \u201can ongoing investigation into potential violations of federal health care laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Justice Department has ordered\u00a0QueerDoc, a small telehealth clinic for transgender youths in Washington state, to turn over records identifying its doctors and patients, including the patients\u2019 addresses and parents or guardians, and the medication they have received.<\/p>\n The ruling doesn\u2019t necessarily require\u00a0QueerDoc to release all its records. While the court overturned a decision by U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead that the Justice Department lacked authority to demand the records, the appeals court majority said Whitehead could still consider restrictions on the government\u2019s access to protect patients\u2019 privacy.<\/p>\n Although \u201cthe administration\u2019s hostility to\u00a0transgender medical care is disturbing, today\u2019s decision doesn\u2019t mean that the courts can\u2019t act to protect patients and providers,\u201d said Christopher Stoll, an attorney with the National Center for LGBTQ Rights in San Francisco.<\/p>\n