Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey on Wednesday joined with the attorneys general of 14 other states in issuing a statement committing to protecting access to so-called “gender-affirming care” in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at ending federal funding for sex-change “transition” procedures on children.

The order, entitled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” was signed by President Trump last week and states it is the policy of the U.S. not to “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.”

“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 order reads. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”

The order also directs U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, to prioritize enforcement of protections against female genital mutilation and investigations into any acts that may be “misleading the public about long-term side effects of chemical and surgical mutilation.”

The order could have implications for Maine, where Gov. Janet Mills (D) has altered Medicaid policies to allow for taxpayer-funded sex-change procedures. As reported exclusively by the Maine Wire, Department of Health and Human Services records show taxpayers foot the bill for 82 sex-change related procedures in 2021, up from 24 in 2019.

Additionally, the U.S. attorney general is directed under the order to investigate and take action to “end child-abusive practices by so-called sanctuary States that facilitate stripping custody from parents who support the healthy development of their own children, including by considering the application of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act and recognized constitutional rights.”

In April 2024, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed into law LD 227, a bill that grants legal protections for providers of abortions and transgender surgeries who perform their services on people from states with more restrictive laws than Maine.

The law also institutes legal rights to “gender-affirming health care” and “reproductive health care,” and provides for legal action to be taken against anyone who interferes with someone trying to procure those services.

Another provision in the bill provides legal protections to anyone bringing a minor into Maine for an abortion or to receive transgender treatments, even in cases where the adult is not a parent of the minor, and has not notified the parents.

On Monday, the Trump administration announced that hospitals in several states, including New York, Colorado, Virgina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., have taken action to downsize or outright eliminate their “gender-affirming care” programs.

Attorney General Frey, a Democrat, said in the joint statement that he alongside the other 14 attorneys general will “stand firmly in support of healthcare policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people.”

“Health care decisions should be made by patients, families, and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms,” the attorneys general stated. “Gender-affirming care is essential, life-saving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves.”

The attorneys general claim that Trump’s executive order is “wrong on the science and the law,” and that there is “no connection between ‘female genital mutilation’ and gender-affirming care.

“[No federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful,” they stated. “President Trump cannot change that by Executive Order.”

The coalition of state attorneys general said they “will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care,” and that in states where enforcement authority exists — such as in Maine after LD 227 became law — will “challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump Administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions.”

Joining Attorney General Frey in issuing the statement were the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.