Jul 10, 2025

📰Civil Rights Division subpoenas pediatric hospitals under Section 1557

Health Care & Public Health

Justice

On July 9, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the Justice Department issued subpoenas to more than 20 doctors and clinics providing gender-affirming care to minors as part of investigations into alleged healthcare fraud and false statements.

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Key Takeaways

DOJ issued over 20 subpoenas to clinics and doctors providing gender-affirming care to minors ([upi.com](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/07/09/DOJ-subpoenas-gender-affirming-care/5541752114185/?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Subpoenas are part of investigations into healthcare fraud, false statements and more ([upi.com](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/07/09/DOJ-subpoenas-gender-affirming-care/5541752114185/?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
This follows the Supreme Court’s June 18 ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors ([upi.com](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/07/09/DOJ-subpoenas-gender-affirming-care/5541752114185/?utm_source=chatgpt.com))

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Why This Matters

🩺 Doctors are getting spooked:

Federal subpoenas intimidate medical teams, so many hesitate to offer vital care to transgender kids

⚖️ The DOJ is overreaching:

Using criminal investigation tools against healthcare providers creates chilling effect that reduces access to legal medical treatments

👨‍⚕️ Medical decisions become political targets:

When federal prosecutors investigate doctors for providing legal healthcare, it turns medical expertise into partisan battleground

👶 Transgender youth lose essential care:

Fear of federal investigation causes physicians to stop treating transgender adolescents, even when medical associations recommend that care

🏥 Healthcare providers flee the field:

Subpoenas and investigations drive experienced doctors away from transgender medicine, creating healthcare deserts for vulnerable families

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Key Takeaways

Influential Figures

Why This Matters

🩺 Doctors are getting spooked:

⚖️ The DOJ is overreaching:

👨‍⚕️ Medical decisions become political targets:

👶 Transgender youth lose essential care:

🏥 Healthcare providers flee the field:

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Detailed Content

Match each official or organization to their role in the crackdown on gender-affirming care.

The subpoena to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia demanded documents and records dating back to what year?

As of June 2025, how many states have enacted bans on gender-affirming care for minors?

On July 9, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced DOJ subpoenas targeting how many gender-affirming care providers?

What sensitive patient information did DOJ subpoenas demand from hospitals like Children's Hospital of Philadelphia?

Judge Myong Joun ruled the DOJ's subpoena to Boston Children's Hospital was improper because the information requested seemed unrelated to what alleged investigation purpose?

After Judge Joun's successful ruling blocking the Boston Children's Hospital subpoena, what concrete legal strategy should families in other affected states pursue?

What did both Senate and House versions of the reconciliation bill include regarding gender-affirming care?

If you're a parent whose child received gender-affirming care and your hospital was subpoenaed, what concrete action can you take?

After the federal Supreme Court upheld Tennessee''s ban, what alternative legal strategy has succeeded in some states?

What level of judicial review did the Supreme Court apply to Tennessee''s ban in Skrmetti?

On September 9, 2025, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun became the first judge to block a DOJ subpoena targeting gender-affirming care providers. What hospital did he protect?

Several blue states passed "shield laws" to protect providers of gender-affirming care. Why can't these state laws block federal DOJ subpoenas?

How does the False Claims Act create financial liability for hospitals that provided gender-affirming care while receiving federal funds?

Why doesn't HIPAA protect transgender patients' medical records from DOJ subpoenas?

What 2020 Supreme Court case established that discrimination based on transgender status constitutes sex discrimination under federal law, creating tension with the Skrmetti ruling?

Legal experts warn that the Skrmetti decision's reasoning could allow states to restrict what other medical treatments beyond gender-affirming care?

The Skrmetti decision's application of "rational basis review" instead of "heightened scrutiny" means states must only show what to justify bans on gender-affirming care?

Which federal law did Bondi's April 22 memo weaponize against gender-affirming care despite it being designed for a completely different purpose?

Order these key events in the Trump administration's campaign against gender-affirming care: Trump's inauguration, Executive Order 14187, Skrmetti Supreme Court decision, April Bondi memo weaponizing False Claims Act, July DOJ subpoena announcement, September Boston ruling.

Order these events chronologically: Executive Order 14187, Bondi memo, Supreme Court Skrmetti ruling, DOJ subpoena announcement, CHOP subpoena.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in United States v. Skrmetti on June 18, 2025, upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

Every major medical association in the United States—representing over 1.3 million doctors—opposes bans on gender-affirming care and supports such care as evidence-based and medically necessary.

Executive Order 14187, titled "Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation," established federal policy opposing gender-affirming care and directed agencies to investigate providers.

Multiple hospitals terminated their gender-affirming care programs after receiving DOJ subpoenas, even though no charges were filed, demonstrating how investigations alone can shut down legal medical services.

Attorney General Bondi described gender-affirming care as mutilation in her official DOJ announcement.

The Trump administration points to European countries restricting youth gender-affirming care as justification for DOJ investigations, but those countries still allow such care through specialist clinics with informed consent processes.

Families of transgender youth who received care at UPMC are fighting the subpoena by arguing it violates their constitutional right to privacy in medical records.

The Supreme Court''s Skrmetti decision resolved all constitutional challenges to state bans on gender-affirming care, meaning no other legal arguments remain available.

Healthcare providers like UPMC terminated gender-affirming care programs before the DOJ even charged anyone with crimes, showing how investigations alone can shut down medical services.