JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Today, 16 states in the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit over gender-affirming care for minors. The suit says the Trump administration is waging a relentless and illegal pressure campaign to stop hospitals and doctors from treating transgender youth. Aaron Bolton with Montana Public Radio has been reporting on children's hospitals that recently shut down their gender clinics. Aaron joins us now. Welcome.
AARON BOLTON, BYLINE: Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS: So Aaron, start by telling us why these 16 states, almost all led by Democrats, are filing this lawsuit now.
BOLTON: Yeah. Children taking puberty blockers or receiving hormone therapy in places where hospitals have stopped care need to find other doctors who can treat them. And if they can't, they have to stop taking those medications. Children's hospitals that have stopped treatment are in California, Illinois, Colorado and other states. California's Attorney General, Rob Bonta, said today that he thinks the hospitals in his state could keep going. They're not doing anything illegal, but he understands why they're scared.
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ROB BONTA: Anytime you get a criminal subpoena from the federal government, you take note, and it has an impact.
BOLTON: In Montana, the last hospital system providing that care, Community Medical Center, stopped in June. I've talked to parents and patients who are confused about where to get care for their kids, and some parents feel betrayed by hospital administrators and say they should have had the courage to keep treating patients. And there are stories like that from all over.
SUMMERS: Now, I know that in a number of these states, there are laws that are protecting the rights of transgender people or even laws that say that gender-affirming medical treatment is legal. So why did hospitals and doctors stop even in those same states?
BOLTON: They point to executive orders from Trump and threatening letters and subpoenas the DOJ has sent that have gone to both hospitals and doctors. The attorneys general say they're suing to stop those threats so the healthcare providers can resume treatment without fear of losing funding but also without fear of criminal prosecution.
SUMMERS: I'll make the point here that - and the Trump administration officials think and say that this kind of medical care is harmful as well as illegal. On what basis do they say that?
BOLTON: You know, they're using three laws to threaten hospitals. One is a federal law against female genital mutilation. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says that applies to certain types of gender-affirming surgery, even though it's extremely rare for transgender minors to have surgery. The Department of Justice has also mentioned laws meant to stop Medicaid fraud and food and drug safety laws - the reasoning being that hormone therapy is a drug, and they say it's being misused. Bonta, the California attorney general, dismissed that legal reasoning out of hand.
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BONTA: So they are definitely waging the cultural wars. They're definitely planning politics. What they're not doing is practicing law.
BOLTON: I reached out to federal officials for comment. The White House sent back a statement saying the president has the authority to stop treatment that it describes as, quote, "mutilation and chemical castration of children," and it expects ultimate victory in the case.
SUMMERS: Last thing - in a couple seconds, what are California and the other states involved hoping to get out of this lawsuit?
BOLTON: They want the court to basically stop the Trump administration from using these laws to investigate and threaten hospitals, and they will hope that'll create room for hospitals to bring this care back.
SUMMERS: Aaron Bolton joining us from Montana Public Radio. Aaron, thanks so much.
BOLTON: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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