Illinois AG Denounces Trump Exec Order Targeting Gender-Affirming Care

ILLINOIS — Rebuking a recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump that restricts access to gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19, a coalition of 14 attorneys general Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to protecting access to gender-affirming care. The coalition includes Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

"Restricting gender-affirming care jeopardizes the physical and mental health of transgender youth," Raoul said last year. "Transgender youth deserve access to gender-affirming care, and I am committed to ensuring they are not denied those rights."

In Illinois, the Human Rights Act requires health care providers to provide health care to all residents and prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex, which specifically includes gender identity, according to Raoul's office.

The coalition released a statement regarding the order Wednesday. Joining Raoul in issuing the statement are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

"The Trump administration's recent executive order is wrong on the science and the law. Despite what the Trump administration has suggested, there is no connection between female genital mutilation and gender-affirming care, and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful. President Trump cannot change that by Executive Order," the statement reads.

Calling it a "critical" win, the coalition cited last week's federal court win that directed the federal government to resume funding that had been frozen by the Trump administration.

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"This means that federal funding to institutions that provide gender-affirming care continues to be available, irrespective of President Trump’s recent executive order," the statement continues. "If the federal administration takes additional action to impede this critical funding, we will not hesitate to take further legal action."

The statement concludes that state attorneys general will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care, in states where such enforcement authority exists, and "will challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions."