Attorney General Ellison files lawsuit challenging federal attack on gender-affirming care 

Joins coalition of 20 states in arguing HHS Secretary Kennedy’s baseless ‘declaration’ is unlawful and arbitrary, asks court to block its enforcement

AG Ellison to healthcare providers: Kennedy’s ‘declaration’ and threats to them ‘have no basis in law’

December 23, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Today, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, alongside a coalition of 20 states, filed a lawsuit to ensure U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. cannot threaten providers with a so-called “declaration” that baselessly and unlawfully attempts to limit access to gender-affirming care for young people. The declaration falsely claims that certain forms of gender-affirming care are “unsafe and ineffective” and threatens to punish any doctors, hospitals, and clinics that continue to provide it with exclusion from the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. Attorney General Ellison and the coalition argue that this declaration violates federal law by unlawfully changing medical standards without going through the notice and comment process and undermining states’ long-standing authority to regulate medicine. The coalition is asking the court to intervene and set aside the unlawful and arbitrary declaration.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll said it again: Gender-affirming care is healthcare, period. It is evidence-based, backed by the American Medical Association, and helps transgender individuals live their lives with the dignity we all deserve. Gender-affirming care saves lives,” Attorney General Ellison said. “No one wants this highly political federal government or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. interfering in their most personal medical decisions — particularly not when this so-called ‘declaration’ reinforces a bad faith mischaracterization of the kinds of care available to minors and the circumstances under which it’s provided. The declaration has no basis in medical science or the ethical provision of healthcare. What happens in a doctor’s office should be between a doctor, a patient, and the patient’s parents if they are a minor. There’s simply no room in that equation — or that office — for the federal government or for policies rooted in disinformation about gender-affirming care.

“I want to say especially clearly to healthcare providers that Secretary Kennedy’s so-called ‘declaration’ and the threats he has made to them also have no basis in law. My colleagues and I are suing to get it blocked as quickly as possible. You should continue to care for patients without discrimination and leave the federal government to us,” Attorney General Ellison continued.

The lawsuit follows announcements made by HHS on December 18, 2025. On that date, HHS published a document that the agency called a “declaration,” claiming that certain forms of gender-affirming care are “unsafe and ineffective.” In the “declaration,” Secretary Kennedy claimed to give HHS the power to exclude health care providers and institutions from the Medicare and Medicaid programs simply for providing health care for transgender adolescents. The agency also announced two proposed rules that would completely bar gender-affirming care providers and associated hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid and ban payments for transgender health care through Medicaid.  

These rules have not yet gone into effect. The public has until February 17, 2026 to submit comments on the proposals. Minnesota is still reviewing the rules and will determine how to address them in the near future.

Attorney General Ellison and the coalition argue that, in addition to releasing the proposed rules, HHS is attempting to use the “declaration” to circumvent basic legal requirements and accelerate unlawful policy changes. Federal law requires agencies to provide the public with notice and an opportunity to comment before making significant changes to health care policy. Instead, HHS issued what it arbitrarily called a declaration and attempted to make it effective nationwide immediately, without consulting doctors, patients, or states. The attorneys general contend that this is a clear overreach by the federal government, given that HHS does not have the authority to take such an action. For generations, states, not the federal government, have been responsible for regulating the practice of medicine. By attempting to impose a single nationwide standard rooted in animosity against the transgender community, and threatening to punish providers who adhere to well-established, evidence-based care, HHS is unlawfully interfering in decisions that should be made by doctors and their patients.

The attorneys general warn that HHS will attempt to use this unlawful action to enact immediate and widespread consequences. For transgender youth and their families, it creates fear and uncertainty about whether ongoing care could suddenly be taken away. For doctors and hospitals, it threatens severe penalties simply for treating their patients with evidence-based, medically necessary care. For states, it puts Medicaid programs at risk – programs that millions of people depend on for everyday and lifesaving care. States rely on broad networks of providers to deliver essential health services. By threatening to disqualify providers who offer gender-affirming care, the federal government is forcing doctors to choose between abandoning their patients or risking their livelihoods. This pressure would reduce access to care, worsen provider shortages, and harm Medicaid patients far beyond those seeking gender-affirming care.

Attorney General Ellison and the coalition are asking the court to rule the HHS declaration unlawful and block its enforcement.

Joining Attorney General Ellison in this lawsuit, which was led by the attorneys general of New York, Oregon, and Washington, are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont,  and Wisconsin, and the governor of Pennsylvania.

In February 2025, Attorney General Ellison sued the Trump Administration to challenge executive orders related to the provision of gender-affirming care to minors. That action remains pending.