A federal judge in Oregon has ruled that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. overstepped when he declared gender-affirming care for minors unsafe nationwide. The ruling was prompted by a multistate lawsuit led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. The states argued that the directive was not grounded in established medical science and represented an attempt to coerce providers by threatening federal funding and regulatory consequences. The Department of Justice had argued that Kennedy's declaration was only a statement of the administration's views and did not enforce a law. The judge has not issued a written ruling yet.