A federal judge sided with two doctors at Harvard Medical School, ruling that President Donald Trump’s administration must restore medical research articles that promoted gender ideology and transgender topics to a government website.
In his order Friday, Judge Leo Sorokin of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction calling on the Trump administration to restore the doctors’ articles and others removed for similar reasons while the case is adjudicated.
The judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, argued that the removal of the articles violated the free speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment.
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“This is a flagrant violation of the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights as private speakers on a limited public forum,” Sorokin wrote.
“The plaintiffs are likely to succeed in proving that the removal of their articles was a textbook example of viewpoint discrimination by the defendants in violation of the First Amendment. Because irreparable harm necessarily flows from such a violation, and the balance of harms and the public interest favor the plaintiffs, the motion for a preliminary injunction is allowed in part,” the judge’s ruling stated.
The articles, written by Dr. Gordon Schiff and Dr. Celeste Royce, had been published on the Patient Safety Network, an online resource run by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
To comply with Trump’s executive order in January, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” the doctors’ articles were removed.
The order, which announced the government’s intention to “defend women’s rights” and only recognize two genders, tasked federal agencies with the removal of “all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology.”
One of the articles removed included a commentary co-authored by Royce on a case study about a delayed diagnosis of endometriosis, which was published on PSNet in June 2020. The commentary concluded with a series of “Take-Home Points,” noting a reported lack of understanding about the occurrence of endometriosis among trans-identified and non-gender-conforming individuals.
Another paper published on PSNet in January 2022 commented on the importance of knowing which groups are at a high risk of suicide, stating: “High risk groups include male sex, being young, veterans, Indigenous tribes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (LGBTQ).”
Sorokin’s ruling is not the first time that a judge has issued a decision against the Trump administration’s policies related to gender ideology and LGBT issues.
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Lauren King of the Western District of Washington at Seattle granted a preliminary injunction against two Trump executive orders that banned the federal funding of surgical castrations and hormone drugs for youth exhibiting confusion about their sex.
The judge, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, argued that Trump’s executive orders violated “the separation of powers” by assuming Congress’ role to “appropriate federal funds and set conditions on their use.”
Trump’s order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” defined “sex” as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.” In addition, the order stated that “sex” was “not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity.'”
The other order, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” prohibited the federal funding of gender procedures for individuals aged 19 and younger.
“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” the order stated.
“Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
