Illinois is suing the Trump administration, along with more than 21 legal officials from states and cities nationwide, over its attempts to barrel through a ban on gender affirming care for youth — despite another federal court striking down its last attempt earlier this year.

In March, Oregon District Court judge Mustafa Kasubhai sided with Attorney General Kwame Raoul and others in striking down a near-identical rule change from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a social media post Tuesday, Trump said he instructed the Administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and former television personality Mehmet Oz to push the nearly identical rule through his agency.

The new policy calls for Medicaid and CHIP to continue to pay for mental health treatment for transgender patients 19 and younger but phase out coverage of hormone treatments as of April 2027. If courts don’t intervene, the new rule could go into effect Oct. 13.

The states now argue in Massachusetts federal court that Oz, much like Kennedy, is circumventing the usual legal methods for the rule changes in an attempt to create a near-nationwide ban on gender-affirming care for patients under 18. The action also threatens Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, funding if it’s used to provide the care to 19-year-olds, who are legal adults.

The lawsuit says the move “excludes medically necessary healthcare services from federal reimbursement only when provided to low-income transgender adolescents” while flying in the face of how Medicare and Medicaid exclusions have traditionally been set — by the states.

In a statement, Raoul said not only was the rule targeting transgender youth, but that it could open the door for the federal government to make more decisions about practiced medicine.

“The Trump administration is attempting to score political points by continuing to threaten healthcare for a very small and vulnerable population,” Raoul said. “No federal agency has the power to directly regulate the practice of medicine. … If the Trump administration is allowed to decide what is safe and appropriate healthcare for this population, what’s to stop them from meddling in everyone’s care?”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Raoul and the coalition of legal officials made nearly identical arguments in the previous suit, also saying Kennedy’s move violated the federal Administrative Procedures Act. In his decision, Kasubhai chastised the federal government for its attempt to circumvent federal checks and balances.

“The notion that ‘I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance that adheres to the overarching commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as a sacred,” Kasubhai said in his ruling.

It comes months after the Department of Justice issued more than 20 subpoenas for patient data regarding gender-affirming care and the Federal Trade Commission sued the East Dundee-based World Professional Association for Transgender Health, accusing it of making deceptive claims.

The Trump administration’s actions run counter to the recommendations of major U.S. medical societies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. But many hospitals across the nation, including in the Chicago area, have cut treatment for thousands of patients out of fear of reprisals from the federal government.

Earlier this year, Illinois joined a third separate lawsuit with more than a dozen other attorneys general alleging the Trump administration overstepped its authority by threatening health care providers with federal investigations and criminal prosecutions.

Contributing: AP