US federal judge orders health agencies to restore webpages removed following Trump order News
US federal judge orders health agencies to restore webpages removed following Trump order

A US federal judge for the District of Columbia ordered the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to reinstate webpages and data removed following President Trump’s executive order on gender ideology while litigation moves forward.

Dr Christine Petrin, president of the board of directors for Doctors for America, released the following statement in response to the judge’s grant of a Temporary Restraining Order:

In the short time that important web pages were removed from the websites of major public health agencies, our members have seen firsthand how dangerous it can be to practice medicine without critical clinical information. For the safety of our patients, we applaud the decision to restore this information, placing it back in the hands of providers around the country to keep their patients and communities safe and healthy.

By the judge’s order, the web pages must be restored to their versions by 11.59 pm on February 11, 2025. The defendants and plaintiffs are also ordered to consult and identify any other resources that Doctors for America members rely on to provide medical care and that were removed or substantially modified on or after January 29, 2025, and defendants shall, by February 14, 2025, restore those resources to their versions as of January 30, 2025. Additionally, a joint status report detailing the parties’ efforts to comply is to be submitted by no later than 5 pm on February 13, 2025.

The litigation began earlier this month when Doctors for America, a medical advocacy group, sued the health agencies after public health information was removed under Trump’s orders. The executive order removes gender identity protections, challenges life-saving healthcare for trans people and, according to the ACLU, threatens “the freedom of self-determination and self-expression for all.”