A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford from turning over records sought by a Justice Department grand jury subpoena involving transgender patients who received gender-affirming care, after six families sued to keep the information private.
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford from producing documents sought by a Justice Department grand jury subpoena tied to an investigation into care provided to transgender minors.
The order followed a lawsuit filed by six families whose children received gender-affirming care at the Stanford-affiliated hospital. The families argued that handing over the requested materials would expose sensitive medical information and identifying details.
Reporting by NPR affiliates said the subpoena sought detailed patient files — including identifying information about young people treated in a pediatric gender clinic — and also demanded personnel records connected to clinicians and others involved in care. (wusf.org)
The subpoenas are part of a broader federal push by the Trump administration targeting providers of pediatric gender-affirming care. In legal filings and public statements, the administration has described its objective as protecting children from what it calls “sex-rejecting procedures,” language that critics say is inflammatory and inaccurate. (latimes.com)
Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, has criticized the subpoenas as an attempt to intimidate doctors and families. In a separate statement carried by NPR affiliates, a Justice Department spokesperson said the agency would use “every legal and law enforcement tool available” to protect children from being “mutilated under the guise of ‘care.’” (nclrights.org)
The temporary restraining order is limited to the Stanford case and does not amount to a nationwide block on the Justice Department’s efforts. Related legal fights over similar subpoenas have continued in other courts around the country. (oag.ca.gov)
