Trump’s Justice Department Wants to Violate Your Family’s Right to Privacy
Subpoenas filed by the Justice Department are demanding far more information from healthcare providers than they’re entitled to, but some are fighting back.
by Aly Gibbs
In June and July, the Department of Justice issued more than 20 subpoenas to providers of transgender healthcare for minors, seeking to violate Americans’ right to privacy for the crime of being transgender. In a press release, Attorney General Pam Bondi falsely described the treatment of gender dysphoric youth as “[mutilating] children in the service of a warped ideology,” a transparently bigoted and biased misrepresentation of reversible procedures that save trans children’s lives every single day.
A copy of the subpoena made public in late August showed that the Justice Department had asked doctors and hospitals for an unprecedented amount of personal information that they had absolutely no right to access, such as “billing documents, communication with drug manufacturers and data such as patient dates of birth, Social Security numbers and addresses,” and in the case of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, emails, Zoom recordings, voicemails and text messages on encrypted platforms as far back as January 20.
On September 25, The Public Interest Law Center and law firm Ballard Spahr announced that they’ve asked federal courts in Pennsylvania to deny the subpoenas issued to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The statement describes the subpoenas as sweeping, and says, “The records being sought are deeply personal, containing medical information about these young patients’ mental, sexual, and reproductive health, along with personally identifying information, including their names, addresses, and Social Security numbers … While the department generally has the authority to investigate health care providers, the patients and families say that the subpoenas are overly broad and seek highly sensitive documents that are unnecessary for an investigation.”
Mimi McKenzie, legal director at the Public Interest Law Center, said, “Patients and their parents have a constitutionally protected right to privacy in these types of records, and courts have consistently recognized this. Releasing these records would pose great harm to patients and their families—particularly given the current social and political climate. The Trump administration is weaponizing the Department of Justice to intimidate health care providers and families and to attack this evidence-based care.”
Jill Steinberg, a partner in Ballard Spahr’s Litigation Department, said, “This action is intended to safeguard the most sensitive information of children and their families to ensure that it remains private. We should be cautious about how our institutions are used, especially when their actions could affect vulnerable communities.”
Besides Trump’s nonstop genocidal crusade against transgender Americans, his administration has become well known for intentional violations of citizens’ right to privacy and the security of their personal information. NPR has reported on lawsuits filed against the Trump administration over unlawful aggregation of Americans’ personal information into law enforcement databases, as well as actions undertaken by the inaccurately named Department of Government Efficiency that have put millions of Americans at risk for identity theft.
The dangers of these invasions of privacy are innumerable. From identity fraud to targeted harassment or, in the case of assassinated Minnesota politician Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, being stalked and murdered by somebody who can simply purchase your home address from a data broker, the stakes are high.
We absolutely must fight the government’s invasion of our privacy, whether it’s our medical records or a monolithic database containing our personal information, and that starts by protecting the most vulnerable Americans from overreach by the Justice Department.
Aly Gibbs (She/They), formerly Alyssa Steinsiek, is a trans writer who reports on news important to the queer community.
