Politicized Oversight Undermines Medical Privacy and Transgender Health Services

HealthHIV and the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health strongly oppose the Trump administration’s repeated and escalatory attempts to intimidate transgender youth, their families, and their doctors and care providers. The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent move to issue more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics demanding confidential medical records poses a serious threat to patient privacy, and not just to trans folks. 

Even in the more “controversial” areas of medicine (like opioid prescribing or fertility treatment), the federal government typically doesn’t intervene in this sweeping and public way unless credible and specific allegations of criminal conduct exist. 

Baseline HIPAA protections, which are intended to keep everyone’s health information private, are put at risk when medical records, like those recently subpoenaed by the DOJ, are obtained without suspicion or due cause. 

To be clear, evidence-based gender-affirming care for minors is supported by all major U.S. medical associations, including the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). And while there may be disputes over the specifics of treatment guidelines, these debates belong in medical journals, not DOJ courtrooms. Instead, these subpoenas center on people and organizations known for providing necessary gender-affirming care. 

Recent reports of clinic closures and service reductions in states with strong protections for gender-affirming care further suggest that federal actions are having a chilling effect on access, despite a lack of findings of credible fraud or misconduct.

The coordinated involvement of the DOJ, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, alongside similarly confrontational statements from officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi, signals a politicized campaign, designed to score points and rouse a base who opposes transgender rights—even when it comes at the cost of everyone’s medical privacy and the integrity of our federal institutions.

Social Media: SAMPLE

The Trump admin is using federal subpoenas to target hospitals that provide gender-affirming care without cause. This isn’t fraud oversight. It’s a political attack on trans youth, families, and providers—and a threat to both patient privacy and medical ethics.

#TransHealth #HIPAA