ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL FILES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING FEDERAL ATTACK ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL FILES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING FEDERAL ATTACK ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE

December 23, 2025

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to ensure the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot issue a declaration that baselessly and unlawfully threatens health care professionals who provide medically necessary gender-affirming health care to young people. The secretary's declaration falsely claims that certain forms of gender-affirming care are "unsafe and ineffective." The secretary's declaration also threatens to punish any doctors, hospitals and clinics that continue to provide such health care with exclusion from the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Attorney General Raoul and the coalition argue in their lawsuit that Secretary Kennedy's declaration violates federal law and unlawfully attempts to set a national medical standard that undermines states' long-standing authority to regulate medicine and does not even attempt to do so through a legitimate notice and comment rulemaking process. The coalition is asking the court to intervene and set aside the secretary's unlawful and arbitrary declaration.

"Secretary Kennedy does not have the authority to undermine medical standards of care or set conditions on participation in Medicaid and Medicare through a so-called declaration," Raoul said. "The Trump administration is once again circumventing the law to cruelly target transgender youth and their medical providers. I will continue to take action against attacks on essential health care and the flagrant disregard of the rule of law, and I continue to stand with transgender youth and their medical providers."

On Dec. 18, HHS published a document that the agency called a "declaration," claiming that certain forms of gender-affirming care are "unsafe and ineffective." In the declaration, 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 adolescents. The agency also recently 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 Feb. 17, 2026 to submit comments on the proposals.

Attorney General Raoul and the coalition argue in their lawsuit 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. Raoul and 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. Historically, 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.

Raoul and the attorneys general warn that HHS will attempt to use this unlawful action to cause immediate and widespread consequences. For transgender youth and their families, it creates fear and uncertainty about whether ongoing, medically necessary care could suddenly be taken away. For doctors and hospitals, it threatens severe penalties simply for treating their patients with evidence-based, medically necessary care. For states, it puts Medicaid programs at risk - programs that millions of people depend on for everyday and lifesaving care. States rely on broad networks of providers to deliver essential health services, and by threatening to disqualify providers who offer gender-affirming care, the federal government is forcing doctors to choose between abandoning their patients or risking their livelihoods. This pressure would reduce access to care, worsen provider shortages and harm Medicaid patients far beyond those seeking gender-affirming care.

In their suit, Attorney General Raoul and the coalition are asking the court to rule the HHS declaration unlawful and block its enforcement.

Attorney General Raoul has worked throughout the past year to fight the Trump administration's unlawful attempts to block transgender health care. In August, the Illinois Attorney General's office co-led a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's attempt to restrict access to medically necessary care for transgender youth. In September, the office filed another lawsuit against HHS over its threats to pull funding for longstanding reproductive and sexual health education programs for youth if the educational materials include language affirming young people's gender identity. Raoul's office has also submitted multiple amicus briefs and comment letters advocating for transgender individuals' rights, including the right to serve in the military, obtain a passport and protect their medical records.

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