1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

The recent federal court ruling blocking Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s attempt to ban gender-affirming care proves that executive overreach cannot substitute for durable legal protections. Congress must pass legislation codifying trans civil rights before more young people lose access to medically necessary care. Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled on March 19 that Kennedy exceeded his authority when he declared gender-affirming care for minors unsafe and threatened to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals providing this treatment. Despite this victory, major hospitals including NYU Langone, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and UChicago Medicine have already stopped offering care to trans youth. Families are being left without options, and medical providers are abandoning patients out of fear. Court rulings alone cannot protect trans Americans from coordinated attacks on their healthcare and civil rights. The Trump administration has already referred 13 medical institutions to the inspector general for investigation simply for following established standards of care. Trans youth need permanent legal protections that cannot be dismantled by executive order or agency declaration. Pass comprehensive legislation protecting the right to gender-affirming healthcare and prohibiting discrimination against transgender Americans in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations. Trans people deserve the same legal protections as every other American.