Courts Pause Trump’s Gender Executive Order – Here’s the Path Forward

In recent days, many friends and members of Do No Harm have asked: What do we do now that multiple federal courts have paused President Trump’s executive order protecting children from transgender medical interventions?

Our answer is simple: Keep fighting.

First, these pauses are simply part of the long process of change. They were expected – and the path forward is clear. Do No Harm has and will continue to push for legislative reforms at the federal level, regardless of which way the courts come down on the executive order. Our mission and our strategic priorities haven’t changed, and neither has our goal of codifying protections for our country’s children through Congress.

We have the momentum. These pauses won’t affect that. Just this week, Kansas lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto to pass a law banning child sex change interventions, and the Department of Health and Human Services rescinded Biden-era guidance that supported medical providers performing these procedures.

Second, it’s important to understand that no federal court has permanently halted the President’s executive order. They’ve issued what’s known as a “temporary restraining order.” These limitations can only last for a few weeks at most – and they don’t indicate that a court will permanently block the policy in question. They simply give judges some extra time to understand the policy before issuing their rulings, which may go our way.

And third, there’s already precedent for the best possible outcome. After President Trump issued his federal employee buyout plan, a judge issued a temporary restraining order that he quickly repealed within days. The President’s buyout plan is now in effect. Federal courts could take the same road with the President’s order protecting children.

Some courts may go the opposite route, issuing permanent injunctions once temporary restraining orders expire; in fact, the plaintiffs in the lawsuits over the executive orders are now seeking preliminary injunctions, with the Department of Justice due to respond Tuesday. Transgender activists and their allies are hoping for that, which is why they’ve filed many of their cases in the most liberal courts in the country. But such cases aren’t likely to survive on appeal.

We’re disappointed that activist federal judges are already trying to block President Trump’s commonsense order keeping children safe from extreme gender ideology.

But whatever happens in the courts, we’re confident that our country’s children will soon be protected.

We’ll continue to fight for quick resolutions to these lawsuits, while pushing for federal legislation that enshrines the President’s policy in law.

The fight to protect America’s children is far from over. In fact, it’s only just begun.