OAKLAND, Calif. — California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a multistate amicus brief Tuesday opposing the U.S. Department of Justice’s efforts to obtain patient information from New York University Langone Hospitals related to gender-affirming care for minors, arguing the federal government is infringing on states’ authority to regulate medical care.
According to a press release issued by the California Attorney General’s Office, Bonta and a coalition of 21 attorneys general are contesting the criminal grand jury subpoena because it “infringes on states’ rights under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution to regulate the practice of medicine.”
According to the release, the coalition argues that states have the authority to establish their own health care policies and determine what treatments may legally be provided within their borders.
“The U.S. Department of Justice continues to seek access to patients’ private healthcare information in an attempt to intimidate medical providers away from offering medically necessary care to transgender individuals,” Attorney General Bonta said, according to the release.
The release noted that the U.S. DOJ previously sought information from providers offering gender-affirming care through nationwide administrative subpoenas in 2025.
The U.S. DOJ failed to gain support for its subpoenas in the courts because the orders “served no legitimate investigatory purpose and threatened to undermine states’ sovereign interest in regulating the practice of medicine,” the announcement stated.
In May 2026, the U.S. DOJ sought the same records from NYU Langone Hospitals through a federal criminal grand jury subpoena issued through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, according to the statement.
The announcement said that a group of current and former patients filed a class-action lawsuit on June 2, along with an application for a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to prevent the U.S. DOJ from obtaining their health records.
The amicus brief asked the court to grant the request for a temporary restraining order, stressing that the subpoena “harms states’ abilities to protect equality for their residents and ensure that people with gender dysphoria retain access to medically necessary care,” according to the release.
The coalition maintains that decisions about medical treatment should be left to the states and health care professionals and that federal efforts to obtain gender-affirming care records threaten states’ police powers.
The statement highlighted that Attorney General Bonta is “committed to defending medical providers and their patients from overreach and intimidation by the Trump Administration.”
According to the release, the California attorney general joined a “multistate amicus brief opposing a U.S. DOJ subpoena against Rhode Island Hospital seeking information and documents regarding the hospital’s provision of gender-affirming care” on May 11, 2026.
The announcement stated that Attorney General Bonta also joined amicus briefs opposing U.S. DOJ subpoenas against QueerDoc, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Attorneys general from New York, Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia joined Attorney General Bonta in filing the amicus brief.
“We will continue to oppose the Trump Administration’s bad-faith agenda against transgender individuals and fight to ensure all Americans can access crucial care from providers they trust,” Attorney General Bonta said, according to the statement.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
