DOJ subpoenas 20+ doctors, clinics in nationwide investigation of sex change procedures for minors and healthcare fraud.

Justice Department Investigates Doctors, Clinics Over Procedures for Minors

The Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to more than 20 doctors and clinics involved in providing sex change procedures to minors, escalating a high-profile investigation into gender-affirming medical care for children across the United States. The move, announced Wednesday, forms part of a wider federal effort to scrutinize the practices and claims associated with gender-related treatments in pediatric medicine.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated that the DOJ is investigating potential healthcare fraud, false statements, and other violations connected to the provision of these procedures. “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Bondi declared in a written statement. The department did not specify which individuals or facilities were served subpoenas as part of the ongoing investigation.

This action comes after Bondi, in an April memo, instructed all U.S. attorneys to actively investigate cases of suspected female genital mutilation (FGM) carried out under the banner of “gender-affirming care” and to pursue related offenses to the fullest extent of the law. Bondi also directed the DOJ’s Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch to examine the role of manufacturers and distributors in making potentially misleading claims about puberty blockers, sex hormones, or other drugs used in pediatric gender transition care.

Federal Policy and Recent Supreme Court Ruling

The investigation follows a significant policy shift under President Donald Trump. In the early days of his second term, Trump issued an executive order banning the federal government from funding, sponsoring, promoting, or assisting any sex change procedures for children. The order also committed the government to strictly enforce all existing laws prohibiting or limiting such medical interventions for minors.

“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” the executive order stated. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”

Reinforcing the federal government’s stance, the U.S. Supreme Court in June issued a 6-3 ruling upholding a Tennessee law that bans certain transgender medical treatments for adolescents. The court determined that the law does not constitute discrimination, setting a precedent that could influence legal battles in other states considering or enacting similar bans.

Broad Implications for Medical Practice and Policy

The DOJ’s latest actions signal a more aggressive approach to regulating gender-affirming care for minors at the federal level. The subpoenas and ongoing investigations are likely to have far-reaching effects on doctors, clinics, and pharmaceutical companies involved in pediatric gender medicine. Supporters argue that the crackdown is necessary to protect vulnerable children from irreversible procedures, while critics warn that it could limit access to care for transgender youth and increase legal risks for medical professionals.

As the legal and policy battles over gender-affirming treatments for minors continue to intensify, the outcomes of the DOJ’s investigation and related court cases are expected to shape the landscape of pediatric medicine and civil rights for years to come.