Trans kids’ medical records remain private after Trump DOJ loses again

A federal appeals court has refused to let President Donald Trump’s administration obtain sensitive medical records belonging to transgender young people who received care in New York.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the Justice Department’s request to pause a lower court order while the government appeals. The one-sentence decision leaves in place a preliminary injunction issued July 6 by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who had first granted a temporary restraining order in June.

The ruling rebuffs an effort launched in May by federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Texas to obtain identifying information and medical records from young people who received gender-affirming care in New York City. The hospital publicly released the subpoena, which referred to gender-affirming care as “sex-rejecting procedures.” Other hospitals in New York City, including Mount Sinai, reportedly received similar subpoenas, although the nature of those demands remains unclear.

The latest court win drew praise from LGBTQ+ and civil liberties groups.

Related: Judge blocks Trump DOJ’s latest effort to obtain medical records of transgender minors

“Today’s order by the court of appeals preserves the district court’s order prohibiting the government from seeking the identities and sensitive health information of transgender young people and their families who sought care in New York City. The government cannot weaponize the legal system and the use of subpoenas, whether through a grand jury or otherwise, to collect the most private medical information of transgender young people and their families, in violation of the right to privacy guaranteed by our Constitution,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, senior counsel and health care strategist at Lambda Legal.

“Every family should be able to make healthcare decisions without fear of political interference or exposure. While this fight is far from over, we are grateful for today’s decision and will continue fighting for the rights and privacy of transgender people and their families.”

The subpoena demanded 17 broad categories of records covering gender-affirming care provided from Jan. 1, 2020, through May 5, 2026, including documents identifying individual patients and detailing their diagnoses and treatment.

The effort to obtain those records comes as the Trump administration takes numerous steps to cut off funding for and limit access to gender-affirming care. The Second Circuit’s refusal is also the latest in a series of courtroom losses for the administration.

Related: Federal judge declines to block DOJ efforts nationwide to obtain trans youth medical records

A federal judge in Maryland denied the Justice Department access to private medical records belonging to patients at Children’s National Hospital in the Washington area. Another judge in June ordered Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in California not to produce additional records sought by federal prosecutors. Meanwhile, the Justice Department abandoned its pursuit of records in Pennsylvania, voluntarily dismissing its appeal of a lower court ruling denying access to records from UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Still, challenges to the administration’s subpoenas generally must be brought by individual institutions or affected patients. Advocates said the Second Circuit’s decision represents an important victory for the families and patients directly affected by the New York case.

“This is another victory for the fundamental privacy rights of every New Yorker, and an immense relief to transgender youth and their families,” said Bobby Hodgson, deputy legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“The Trump administration’s attempts to weaponize and manipulate the criminal legal system to bully young people, scare their families, and intimidate healthcare providers are unconstitutional—and we’re thankful the Second Circuit left in place the well-reasoned order blocking those tactics. Our laws recognize that everyone deserves basic privacy protections for their sensitive medical information, and we will continue to fight for the rights of transgender New Yorkers and their families.”

Although NYU Langone has not turned over patient records, the hospital system has stopped providing gender-affirming care to minors after the Trump administration threatened to strip all federal funding, including Medicare and Medicaid dollars, from institutions offering such care.