Former federal prosecutor Doug Burns stated in an interview that a recent Oregon judge’s ruling regarding transgender medical care for minors centered on procedural oversights rather than policy.
“The ruling essentially states you did not follow procedure,” Burns explained. “That’s what it was about—it didn’t say you couldn’t do it, but you failed to provide public notice and an opportunity for input.”
Federal Judge Mustafa Kasubhai recently ruled that the government overreached by issuing a declaration labeling treatments such as puberty blockers and surgeries as unsafe and ineffective for minors experiencing gender dysphoria.
The decision highlighted that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not adhere to proper administrative procedures when making the December declaration. The declaration also warned that doctors providing such treatments could be excluded from federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Burns emphasized that the court’s ruling did not address whether these treatments should be permitted, but instead focused on the lack of required public input. He noted a significant divergence in how the issue is framed: “One person’s gender-affirming care, it’s like a nice euphemism, I guess I would call it, versus mutilation.”
Burns further stated that the matter has become a broader cultural debate that lawmakers, not judges, should handle. “It’s a hot-button culture war issue that really doesn’t belong being adjudicated in courts,” he said. “It should be in the halls of Congress, in my opinion.”
