New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that she’s leading a coalition of 19 states in filing a lawsuit that aims to stop the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from blocking surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments for minors. 

“At the core of this so-called declaration are real people: young people who need care, parents trying to support their children, and doctors who are simply following the best medical evidence available,” James said in a statement. 

The HHS announced last week it was moving to bar hospitals from offering “the sex-rejecting procedures on children” as a condition of participating in Medicare and Medicaid. The policy change was in line with President Donald Trump's executive order directing the HHS to end the practice. 

“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions performed on them, that carry life-altering risks with no reliable evidence of benefit,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said in a statement.