Attorney General Clark Joins Multistate Opposition to DOJ's Attempt to Subpoena Gender-Affirming Care Records

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The brief opposes the Trump Administration's motion to reconsider the court's ruling quashing the Department of Justice's (DOJ) subpoena for documents, including patient records, related to gender affirming care at Boston Children's Hospital (BCH).

Since taking office, the Trump Administration has attempted to end lawful medical care that it disfavors. On day one, President Trump issued an Executive Order declaring gender identity a "false" idea. A week later, the President issued another Executive Order attempting to strip federal funding from institutions that provide lifesaving gender affirming care for young people under the age of 19, with the ultimate goal of ending all gender affirming care for adolescents. In April, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo directing the DOJ to investigate healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies that engage in gender affirming care.

On June 11, the DOJ sent BCH an administrative subpoena, seeking information and documents relating to the hospital's provision of gender affirming care. This subpoena sought a broad range of highly sensitive and confidential records related to both patients and providers, including personnel records for nearly all BCH employees and extensive patient records.

On September 9, a federal judge voided the DOJ's subpoena, ruling that it was clearly an attempt to interfere with Massachusetts's right to protect gender affirming care within its borders and to intimidate BCH and its patients from providing and seeking gender affirming care. The Trump Administration has now filed a motion for the Court to set aside its ruling.

In their brief, the attorneys general urge the Court to uphold its prior ruling quashing the DOJ's subpoena. They argue that the federal government is clearly seeking to intimidate medical providers from offering critical and medically necessary care to transgender youth, even in states like Vermont where such care is legal and protected. Further, the attorneys general contend that the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) - which the DOJ now broadly interprets to criminalize parts of routine medical care - does not prohibit medical providers from using approved medications for off-label purposes. In fact, if the DOJ's interpretation of the FDCA were accepted, entire fields of medicine could see their practitioners at risk of criminal conviction merely for offering evidence-based treatments.

The states submitting today's motion have enacted their own laws, policies and protections for transgender residents, including transgender youth under the age of 19. Vermont has enacted laws recognizing the right to access gender-affirming care and shielding people who access or provide gender-affirming care from civil or criminal penalties by out-of-state jurisdictions.

Joining Attorney General Clark in submitting today's brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the brief is available on our website.

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