Federal Prosecutor in Texas Subpoenaes Another State Hospital for its Trans Youth Health Care Records

Shield laws are under attack—again. On Tuesday, NYU Langone Medical Health told its patients that it’s one of several hospitals that received a grand jury subpoena from a federal prosecutor in Texas, likely stemming from a criminal case. The subpoena broadly demands information about minors that have sought trans-affirming care, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and top/bottom surgery, from the clinic in the last five years. 

“This is mafia-type behavior,” National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter told Mother Jones. “[It is] a blatant attempt to harass and intimidate medical providers based on this administration’s ideological opposition to transgender people and to this healthcare.” 

It’s not entirely clear why exactly Ryan Raybould, who heads the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas, filed the subpoena. But given Raybould was appointed by former Attorney General Pam Bondi—who really knows how to pick them—to his post in November, I wouldn’t hold my breath for anything good.

That being said, the subpoena is, in many ways, as creepy as the ones the Justice Department has been sending to more than a dozen doctors and clinics in the last 15 months, and similarly asks for an expansive amount of information, like emails, calendar entries, and text messages. What’s different, however, is that unlike the DOJ’s efforts—most of which have failed—this subpoena seems like a new strategy to get the information via federal criminal charges. 

A criminal case would be particularly alarming, as it would try and intimidate providers with the risk of arrest, jail time, or the loss of their license. It would also dramatically escalate the administration’s attacks on trans providers, and prove as yet another reminder of how pretty much any jurisdiction in Texas will never pass up an opportunity to suck up to MAGA—or find any excuse to uphold its long tenure of subjecting LGBTQ+ communities to regressive policies. 

The subpoena follows the administration’s attack on trans-affirming care for minors in December, which announced then that it would pull Medicaid funding from any hospital offering such services. Speaking at a news conference, Dr. Mehmet Oz added that he thinks trans-affirming care should be a “prehistoric relic,” to “fall in the deepest abyss of dark periods of American history like prefrontal lobotomies represent today.” Which is funny, considering I’d like a lobotomy just for reading that.

NYU caved and ended care and they’re still being hit with a grand jury subpoena. It’s incredibly clear that no amount of preemptive compliance will stop this attack. You either fight or you will be destroyed by this administration. Caving will not save you.

— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) May 12, 2026 at 1:21 AM

A month after the administration’s announcement, NYU Langone formally ended its Transgender Youth Health Program, though it had also stopped accepting new patients a year earlier. Evidently, none of their moves prevented the subpoena from arriving anyways.  

“We understand that these developments may be concerning to our patients, providers and others,” NYU Langone told patients in its announcement. “Please know that NYU Langone takes the privacy of your protected health information very seriously, and we are evaluating our response to this subpoena.”