A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from forcing a Rhode Island hospital to hand over confidential records belonging to transgender patients who received gender-affirming care.
The ruling marks another major legal setback for the Department of Justice’s ongoing subpoena campaign targeting trans healthcare providers.
US District Judge Mary McElroy sharply criticised the DOJ’s handling of the case, writing that the department had “proven unworthy” of the trust typically granted to federal prosecutors.
“The administration has publicly characterised gender-affirming care for minors as abuse, directed the [justice department] to bring its practice to an end, and celebrated when hospitals curtailed such programs as a result of this subpoena campaign,” McElroy wrote, according to The Guardian.
Subpoenas sought sensitive patient information
The subpoenas reportedly demanded highly sensitive information, including birthdates, Social Security numbers, addresses, intake forms, medical assessments, and records relating to minors who received gender-affirming care over the past five years.
The DOJ has argued that the records are necessary for investigations into potential healthcare fraud and the off-label prescribing of medications such as puberty blockers.
However, McElroy rejected those claims, pointing instead to the administration’s broader public attacks on gender-affirming care for trans youth.
Her ruling comes as more than 20 hospitals and healthcare providers across the United States face similar federal demands for patient information.
That includes NYU Langone Health, which revealed on Tuesday, 12 May, that it had received a criminal subpoena from federal prosecutors in Texas on 7 May.
“The government cannot use its subpoena power to intimidate families”
Attorney Kevin Love Hubbard of the Lawyers’ Committee of Rhode Island welcomed the ruling, saying it protected families seeking lawful medical care.
“The government cannot use its subpoena power to intimidate families out of seeking lawful medical care,” Hubbard said in a statement.
The decision also comes just days after 11 families filed a separate class-action lawsuit in Maryland seeking to block the DOJ from accessing trans youth healthcare records nationwide.
For trans advocates and healthcare providers, the ruling is a significant moment in the growing legal fight over privacy, medical care, and government efforts to target gender-affirming healthcare.
