AMY GOODMAN: I want to bring Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum into this conversation, a pediatrician, adolescent medicine specialist who works with transgender youth. Can you talk about what’s happening in these hospitals? I’ve heard stories of one person after another, as Chase just said, about to go in for surgery, having all the medical preparation, and then being told it’s canceled. You say you’re willing to go to jail to continue to provide medical care for your patients?

DR. JEFFREY BIRNBAUM: Yes. You know, since I was quoted as saying that in the paper the other day — and I stand by my words — I’ve learned that there’s more risk that comes to hospitals, at this point in time at least, than providers, in terms of having their funding cut off and having their grants and so on turned off and just having the flow of money into their institutions turned off, more so than providers. But I stand by — I stand by my words.

Since the NYU news came out and people have been turned away, we’ve actually gotten phone calls in my clinic of people who were just desperate to be able to come into care. And so we’ve accepted some of the people who have been turned away by NYU. I hope at some point they come to their senses and reverse their stance. My hospital — and I’m speaking my own views, I’m not necessarily speaking theirs, but they’ve been very supportive of me to continue to be able to do my work. But they’ve asked me to ensure that I make it clear that I’m speaking my views and not theirs, for some very obvious reasons.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dr. Birnbaum, your thoughts on an executive order that declares that there are just two sexes, male and female? The impact that this has on the population, especially the transgender population?

DR. JEFFREY BIRNBAUM: I mean, that’s a highly ill-informed and uninformed position for them to take. You know, we’re talking about biology, not politics. And some of these folks, if they wanted to go into science, they should become scientists and stay out of and keep politics out of science. We have tons and tons of medical literature that backs up the practice that we’re doing, through the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the Endocrine Society. You look at the references that they follow. Of course, there’s more research that needs to be done. But we’re doing something that is scientifically based. And they’re just making this up. If they want to accuse us of espousing gender ideology, well, we’re following science, and they’re the ones that are really espousing gender ideology.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Birnbaum, you have been getting texts nonstop and calls from your patients. What does it mean to interrupt transgender care?

DR. JEFFREY BIRNBAUM: Yeah, they are terrified that their care is going to be interrupted. Many of the young people that I take care of, prior to coming into care, were suicidal, actually referred to us by psychiatric units for ongoing care after they were hospitalized for suicidal events. And they fear going back to that state where they did not have access to gender-affirming hormonal therapy.

And so, I’ve had to make reassurances. I’ve stated to them what I was quoted in the paper saying: I will go to jail to defend your care. Your care is not stopping. This is a safe space where you access your care, and it’s going to remain that way.

I anticipate that if the executive order were to go through, there will be deaths involved. One of the quotes from the young people at the protest the other day saying this was lifesaving care, and I ascribe to that notion that it is lifesaving. It is certainly life-affirming care. And to take that care away from them will definitely increase levels of dysphoria in young people, and many of them will go on to commit suicide, or at least think about it.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to end with Chase Strangio. How does this relate to the Supreme Court case? And what will happen with the decision that will be handed down? And also, the state Attorney General Letitia James weighing in?

CHASE STRANGIO: Yeah, so, we are at the Supreme Court right now arguing that this very type of attack on medical care for transgender people violates the Constitution. Now, we are up against state officials and now federal officials that are trying to undo equal protection protections for the entire population. So this is going to be a major test at the Supreme Court this term. It will impacts for these executive orders and whether or not they’re constitutional.

But even putting Skrmetti aside, which is the case at the Supreme Court, this exceeds the president’s authority. There are very clear constitutional limits on what the executive branch can do, what the legislative branch can do and what the judicial branch can do. And we see the president far exceeding his authority.

And thankfully, there are attorney generals across the country that are stepping in, suing the administration, reminding entities in New York state that they have to continue to follow state law. But there are people who have fled their homes in places like Tennessee and Florida to relocate to places like New York and Massachusetts, only to have that care shut off. This is a crisis, and people need to be responding accordingly.

AMY GOODMAN: And Letitia James?

CHASE STRANGIO: You know, I’m glad to see her stepping in and threatening hospitals, because they do have to follow New York law. And at the same time, the Trump administration is threatening federal funding, which preempts state law. So we are in a situation where, yes, we need to fight back and remind people to follow the state laws, but we need to aim our focus at the Trump administration and the fact that they are coercing entities to shut off care to transgender people.

AMY GOODMAN: Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, argued before the Supreme Court in December. Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum, pediatrician, adolescent medicine specialist who works with transgender youth.

Next up, we speak with a former top lawyer at the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She was just fired as part of Trump’s purge of federal workers. Back in 20 seconds.