A judge in Washington state has invalidated President Donald Trump’s executive order regarding transgender healthcare.
Importance of the Decision
Federal Judge Lauren King issued the restraining order after the attorneys general of Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.
This temporary restraining order was granted just a day after a federal judge in Baltimore had blocked the executive order following a different lawsuit brought by families of transgender or nonbinary children. These temporary restraining orders represent the beginning of what is expected to be a lengthy struggle to challenge the executive order.
Newsweek reached out via email on Monday to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown for comments.
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Key Details
On January 28, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled: “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”
This order prohibits “the use of sex hormones, including androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone, to align an individual’s physical appearance with a gender identity differing from their assigned sex” and bans “surgical procedures aimed at changing an individual’s physical appearance to match a gender identity that does not correspond to their sex.”
Additionally, the executive order cuts off federal funds to doctors providing such treatments to transgender minors.
On Sunday, February 16, Judge King issued a preliminary injunction against Trump’s executive order.
In her ruling, King found multiple constitutional violations in the order.
Regarding the restriction of federal funding, she stated, “This exceeds the President’s authority in terms of separation of powers.”
She also pointed out that the executive order aimed to criminalize gender realignment treatments for minors, which she deemed unconstitutional since it “attempts to broaden the scope of criminalized conduct in an existing federal statute” and “oversteps the bounds of presidential authority under the Constitution.”
“These are not the only ways in which the Executive Order is unconstitutional,” she elaborated.
“The Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits the federal government from treating individuals differently based on sex or transgender identity unless such differential treatment serves significant governmental objectives and is closely related to achieving those objectives.”
Public Reactions
After Judge King issued her initial temporary restraining order on February 14, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown took to X, formerly Twitter, to express, “A significant victory for Washington’s youth, the trans community, parents, and healthcare providers today, as a federal judge granted our request to temporarily halt the president’s unlawful order blocking funding for gender-affirming care. Providers can now return to fulfilling their roles in supporting our youth.”
“I feel immense pride in the team that developed this lawsuit. They dedicated considerable hours to drafting it, gathered over 100 testimonies from Washington residents impacted by the harmful executive order, and presented a compelling argument in court today.”
Looking Ahead
As Judge King transitions from a temporary to a preliminary injunction, this decision can now be appealed.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal to a federal circuit court, and the matter may escalate to the U.S. Supreme Court due to the involvement of multiple states in this dispute.
