Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro joined California and 14 other states and Washington, D.C., in fighting against restrictions on sex change procedures for minor children imposed by President Donald Trump via a Jan. 28 executive order.
So-called gender-affirming care has been offered at a few hospitals in Pennsylvania, including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The lawsuit asks the court to continue to permit the sex-change treatments on minors, accusing the Trump administration of “relentlessly, cruelly, and unlawfully target(ing) transgender individuals.”
“Today, I am suing the Trump administration alongside 16 other states for threatening baseless civil investigations and criminal prosecutions against health care providers in Pennsylvania and trying to take medical decisions away from parents and local communities,” Shapiro said. “The freedom to make health care decisions should be between parents, their children, and their doctor, and I will not stand by while the federal government tries to infringe on the rights and freedoms of Pennsylvania families.”
Shapiro’s stance puts him at odds with the vast majority of American voters, who overwhelmingly support the ban. It also marks a break with some moderate Democrats who might be running for president in 2028, like former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The one-time Obama advisor recently told podcaster Megyn Kelly that his party had gone too far on the transgender issue. He also reaffirmed the biological fact that men cannot become women.
Trump, who targeted Democrats over their support for taxpayer-funded sex-change procedures during the 2024 campaign, has issued several executive orders addressing the issue.
“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding. Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization,” the Trump order in question reads.
“Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” Trump wrote.
Trump called on the Justice Department to investigate healthcare providers offering these treatments.
Democratic consultant Brittany Crampsie supports Shapiro’s actions.
“The Trump administration is playing politics with health care – from Medicaid cuts to penalizing hospitals. Public health will suffer so these extremists can advance their own selfish social agenda,” Crampsie said.
However, polls show much of the country sides with Trump on this issue, and Shapiro, who faces reelection next year, may be gambling with his political future in a state where more and more voters are joining the GOP.
“So-called ‘gender-affirming care’ is permanently harming children, and it must be stopped. The Trump administration is right to take action, and Gov. Shapiro is wrong to stand in the way,” said Tom Shaheen, vice president of policy at the Pennsylvania Family Institute, a conservative pro-family group. “By joining this lawsuit, Shapiro is defending a practice the most rigorous studies to date say lacks evidence. These chemical and surgical interventions are irreversible, harmful, and far from the settled science activists claim.”
Shaheen added, “Worse, he’s ignoring the will of the people. A Harvard-Harris poll shows 78 percent of voters, including 67 percent of Democrats, say these procedures should be only for adults, and 77 percent oppose allowing them for minors without parental consent. This isn’t leadership. It’s Shapiro caving to political pressure from the far left at the expense of children and families in Pennsylvania.”
“In joining far-left attorneys general from California and New York to sue the Trump administration for ending its support for taxpayer-funded pediatric gender reassignment surgery, Gov. Shapiro once again proves he’s out of touch with the majority of Pennsylvanians, who overwhelming rejected his extremist agenda at the ballot box last November,” said Kamen Kreilick, state director of the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus.
“Over two-thirds of Americans oppose using taxpayer dollars to provide minors with life-altering puberty blockers and sterilizing surgeries, demonstrating once again that Gov. Shapiro is more interested in pandering to extremist, far-left ideologues than in responsible governing. No child should be subjected to medical experiments that alter their natural development and permanently damage their bodies, and no taxpayer should be forced to foot the bill,” he said.