A federal court has sided with 21 states, including Minnesota, and vacated a declaration regarding hospitals providing gender affirming care for minors.

The declaration, issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Dec. 18, 2025, threatened hospitals and clinics with exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid should they provide gender affirming care for those under 18 years of age.

In response, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with 20 other attorneys general, filed a lawsuit challenging the declaration, arguing that it violated the law by changing medical standards without going through the notice-and-comment process and that it undermined states’ authority to regulate medicine.

On Thursday, the court indicated it would grant the states’ motion for summary judgment and vacate the declaration.
“Gender-affirming care is healthcare, and healthcare decisions should be left up to doctors, their patients, and if the patient is younger, their parents or guardians,” said Ellison. “The federal government should not be part of that equation, and there’s no room in Minnesota doctors’ offices for Donald Trump, RFK Jr., and other politicians that want to dictate what healthcare we can and cannot receive.”