A Texas federal prosecutor has subpoenaed NYU Langone Health (NYULH), a major hospital network in New York City, for information about minor patients who received gender-affirming care between 2020 to 2026.
The US attorney’s office in the northern district of Texas’s subpoena, which was sent on 7 May, also requested the names of medical providers and others who provided such medical treatment during that period. NYULH was one of several institutions that were issued a subpoena, according to a statement on its website.
“We understand that these developments may be concerning to our patients, providers and others,” the hospital network said in a statement. “Please know that NYU Langone takes the privacy of your protected health information very seriously and we are evaluating our response to the subpoena.”
The hospital system must attempt to notify patients who received treatment and those involved in their care 30 days prior to disclosing protected information under New York state’s shield law. It must also notify the office of attorney general.
This month’s subpoena is the Trump justice department’s latest attempt to track and regulate gender-affirming care for children across the US. In January 2025, Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at curtailing access to gender-based medical care for youth and directed federally funded institutions to “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children”. A lawsuit filed by LGBTQ advocacy organizations challenging the order is ongoing.
Shortly afterwards, NYULH started canceling gender-affirming care for new trans youth patients to comply with the order. The hospital network was then met with demands from activists to resume services. In February 2026, the hospital ceased its gender‑affirming care program for youth.
Spokesperson Steve Ritea told the Guardian in a statement at the time that “given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program”.
Trans patients whose appointments were canceled at various institutions throughout the nation last year described a state of chaos as they navigated finding new providers in other cities or states.
“It’s already difficult to access healthcare and treatment. It’s additionally difficult for folks who belong to other marginalized communities, especially families and children of color, as well as folks who are on various forms of state-funded insurance and may have difficulty selecting their providers to begin with,” Harper Seldin, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU, told the Guardian last year.
Studies show that hormonal therapy and puberty blockers can improve trans people’s mental health. A 2022 report revealed that a majority of transgender and non-binary youth who received a year’s worth of gender-affirming care at the Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic reported less self-harm, suicidal ideation and depression.
NYULH and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment.
