Attorney General Charity Clark and a multistate coalition of 17 other attorneys general have sued to block enforcement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS') unlawful "declaration" that attempts to limit access to gender-affirming care for young people. HHS' declaration falsely claims that certain forms of gender-affirming care are "unsafe and ineffective." It also threatens to punish any doctors, hospitals, and clinics that continue to provide gender-affirming care with exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Attorney General Clark and the coalition argue in the lawsuit that this declaration violates federal statutes by unlawfully changing medical standards without going through the notice and comment process and undermining states' long-standing authority to regulate medicine. The coalition is asking the court to intervene and set aside the unlawful and arbitrary declaration.

"I will never stop fighting for our rights to control our own bodies, and that includes access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth," said Attorney General Clark. "Contrary to what Secretary Kennedy claims, the major medical organizations agree that gender-affirming care is safe and effective. Decisions to seek that care should be between a patient and their doctor."

On December 18, HHS published a document it called a "declaration," in which Secretary Kennedy claimed to give HHS the power to exclude health care providers and institutions from the Medicare and Medicaid programs simply for providing health care for transgender youth. The agency also announced two proposed rules that would completely bar gender-affirming care providers and associated hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid and ban payments for transgender health care through Medicaid. These rules have not yet gone into effect, and HHS has given the public until February 17, 2026, to submit comments on the proposals.

Attorney General Clark and the coalition argue that HHS is attempting to use the declaration to circumvent basic legal requirements for policy changes. Federal law requires agencies to provide the public with notice and an opportunity to comment before making significant changes to health care policy. Instead, HHS issued what it arbitrarily called a "declaration" and attempted to make it effective nationwide immediately, without consulting doctors, patients, or states. The attorneys general contend that this is a clear overreach by the federal government, given that HHS does not have the authority to take such an action. For generations, states, not the federal government, have been responsible for regulating the practice of medicine. By attempting to impose a single nationwide standard and threatening to punish providers who adhere to well-established, evidence-based care, HHS is unlawfully interfering in decisions that should be made by doctors and their patients.

Joining Attorney General Clark in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.

A copy of the complaint , filed yesterday, is available on our website.

This lawsuit is the 40^th case Attorney General Clark has brought against the Trump Administration since President Trump took office in January. For more information on actions taken by the Attorney General on behalf of Vermonters, visit our website at https://ago.vermont.gov/ago-actions .

CONTACT: Amelia Vath, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-3171