On Feb. 13, U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that bans gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19, the AP reported.
The Joe Biden-appointed Hurson granted the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order following a hearing in federal court in Baltimore. The ruling, in effect for 14 days, essentially puts Trump’s directive on hold while the case proceeds.
A lawsuit was filed earlier this month on behalf of families with transgender or non-binary children who say Trump’s order compromises their healthcare. A national group for families of LGBTQ+ people and a doctors’ organization—PFLAG and GLMA, respectively—are also plaintiffs.
Trump’s executive order “seems to deny that this population even exists, or deserves to exist,” Hurson said.
Hospital systems across the country responded by suspending gender-affirming treatment while they evaluated Trump’s order, which could disrupt care for more than 300,000 transgender minors nationwide, The Hill noted.