OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday led a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ)’s attempt to obtain personal health information about adolescents who have received gender-affirming care at Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford (Stanford Children’s Hospital). In the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the criminal grand jury subpoena U.S. DOJ has issued to Stanford Children’s Hospital seeks to halt gender-affirming care for adolescents in states that have made a commitment to protecting this care, infringing on states’ rights to regulate the practice of medicine and ensure their residents are not denied access to medically necessary healthcare. 

“The Trump Administration is dead set on continuing its hateful agenda targeting transgender individuals and threatening providers of medically necessary care,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We will not stand by as the U.S. Department of Justice attempts to improperly access Americans’ private health data and infringe on states’ rights. We will fight to ensure we and other states can continue to adopt and enforce policies that safeguard crucial care for our residents. We are committed to protecting medical providers from intimidation tactics and securing transgender individuals’ abilities to live and thrive as their authentic selves.”

In the summer of 2025, U.S. DOJ issued administrative subpoenas to medical providers nationwide who provide gender-affirming healthcare for minors. Courts across the country repeatedly quashed these administrative subpoenas, finding that they served no legitimate investigatory purpose and threatened to undermine states’ sovereign interest in regulating the practice of medicine. Last month, U.S. DOJ changed tactics, seeking the same information from Stanford Children’s Hospital through a federal criminal grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. On May 27, a group of current and former patients filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to prevent Stanford Children’s Hospital from disclosing their protected health information. On June 8, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, a motion for class certification, and an application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block U.S. DOJ from obtaining their protected health information. The proposed class includes anyone who received gender-affirming care at a healthcare institution in California while they were under 18 from January 1, 2020, to May 5, 2026, including patients who received this care at Stanford Children’s Hospital.

U.S. DOJ has agreed not to (a) seek to enforce any pending process seeking material containing the protected health information or patient records of any member of the proposed class or (b) otherwise seek, receive, or accept any material containing the protected health information of members of proposed class until at least June 26, 2026. 

In yesterday’s amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urge the district court to grant the plaintiffs’ request for a TRO. In the brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that:

• U.S. DOJ’s subpoena is part of a campaign against gender-affirming care that infringes on states’ rights under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution to regulate the practice of medicine.
• The subpoena harms states’ ability to protect equality for their residents and ensure that people with gender dysphoria retain access to medically necessary care. 

Attorney General Bonta is committed to defending medical providers and their patients from overreach and intimidation by the Trump Administration. Last week, Attorney General Bonta joined a multistate amicus brief opposing a U.S. DOJ grand jury subpoena against NYU Langone Hospital, which also sought access to the personal health information of patients who have received gender-affirming care. Attorney General Bonta has joined amicus briefs opposing similar U.S. DOJ subpoenas against Rhode Island Hospital, telemedicine platform QueerDoc, as well as University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Children’s Hospital Colorado.

In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.