Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a coalition of 14 attorneys general in reaffirming their commitment to protecting access to gender-affirming care in the face of the Trump administration’s recent executive order. In Illinois, the Human Rights Act requires health care providers to provide health care to all residents and prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex, which specifically includes gender identity. The coalition released the following statement:
“As state attorneys general, we stand firmly in support of health care policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people. Health care decisions should be made by patients, families and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms. Gender-affirming care is essential, lifesaving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves.
“The Trump administration’s recent executive order is wrong on the science and the law. Despite what the Trump administration has suggested, there is no connection between female genital mutilation and gender-affirming care, and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful. President Trump cannot change that by Executive Order.
“Last week, attorneys general secured a critical win from a federal court that directed the federal government to resume funding that had been frozen by the Trump administration. In response to the court’s order, the Department of Justice has sent a notice stating that ‘federal agencies cannot pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate any awards or obligations on the basis of the OMB memo, or on the basis of the President’s recently issued Executive Orders.’ This means that federal funding to institutions that provide gender-affirming care continues to be available, irrespective of President Trump’s recent executive order. If the federal administration takes additional action to impede this critical funding, we will not hesitate to take further legal action.
"State attorneys general will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care, in states where such enforcement authority exists, and we will challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions.”
Joining Attorney General Raoul in issuing this statement are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
