Trump Justice Department Secures Texas Court Order to Obtain Transgender Care Records

In April, the Justice Department filed a motion in the Northern District of Texas seeking to enforce a subpoena that would require Rhode Island Hospital to turn over internal records of gender-affirming care provided to minors. The department framed the request as part of a nationwide investigation into such medical treatment, arguing that the case could be heard in the Texas district. Judge Reed O’Connor, the chief judge of the district and a former appointee of President George W. Bush, granted the motion, allowing the hospital to disclose personal data, including names and Social Security numbers of minors who received the care.

New York Times

Before the Texas filing, federal judges in five other districts—Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Seattle—had either dismissed or significantly narrowed the Justice Department’s attempts to compel hospitals to provide similar records. Those rulings, issued by the end of April, reflected a broader judicial pushback against the administration’s effort to collect detailed information on transgender-care patients.

New York Times

Texas lawmakers enacted a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in 2023, meaning no Texas hospitals currently offer the treatment at issue in the subpoena. The Justice Department’s strategy of routing the case through a Texas court, despite the lack of relevant facilities in the state, underscores the administration’s determination to pursue the investigation despite state-level restrictions.

New York Times

The Justice Department characterized the subpoena as essential to a “nationwide investigation” of transgender medical care for children. Judge O’Connor’s order cleared the procedural hurdle, permitting the hospital to comply with the request for patient data. No public statements from the hospital or from the Justice Department’s leadership were quoted in the source material.

New York Times

The order could set a precedent for the federal government to obtain sensitive health information from out-of-state providers via courts in jurisdictions without relevant medical services. Advocates for transgender youth may view the move as an intrusion into privacy, while the administration frames it as a lawful investigative tool. The decision arrives amid ongoing legal battles over transgender health care across the United States.

New York Times