A federal judge on Tuesday issued a sweeping block of President Donald Trump’s order to stop taxpayer-funded transgender procedures for prisoners.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of Washington, D.C., granted class-action status to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of over 1,000 federal prison inmates who are taking advantage of taxpayer-funded prison systems to finance clothing, hormones, and other expenses.

“In light of the plaintiffs’ largely personal motives for undergoing gender-affirming care, neither the BOP nor the Executive Order provides any serious explanation as to why the treatment modalities covered by the Executive Order or implementing memoranda should be handled differently than any other mental health intervention,” Lamberth wrote in a 36-page ruling.

“[N]othing in the thin record before the Court suggests that either the BOP or the President consciously took stock of — much less studied — the potentially debilitating effects that the new policies could have on transgender inmates before the implementing memoranda came into force,” Lamberth added.

The ruling is the latest example of a federal judge issuing a ruling the effect of which expands far beyond the scope of the case at hand. The ACLU lawsuit was brought on behalf of just three transgender-identifying prisoners before the court allowed it class-action status.

Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

The White House said the “decision allowing transgender women, aka MEN, in women’s prisons fundamentally makes women less safe and ignores the biological truth that there are only two genders. The Trump administration looks forward to ultimate victory on this issue in court,” according to Fox News.

Trump issued an executive order on January 20 setting the administration’s official stance of recognizing only two genders, male and female, and rejecting “ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex.”

“The Attorney General shall ensure that the Bureau of Prisons revises its policies concerning medical care to be consistent with this order, and shall ensure that no Federal funds are expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex,” the order says in part.

The courts have emerged as a major venue for opponents of Trump’s agenda to stifle the administration. Last week, a court interfered in the administration’s ongoing battle with Harvard University, temporarily blocking the Department of Homeland Security from freezing new international enrollments at the Ivy League school.

The Trump administration on Tuesday ended another Biden-era abortion mandate, specifically rescinding the most recent interpretation of what’s known as the “Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act,” or EMTALA.

Under Biden, EMTALA guidance forced hospitals and pro-life health care workers to provide abortions if it’s deemed necessary stabilizing treatment. Critics decried the guidance as unlawful and a rejection of conscience protections.

“The Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (‘CMS’) are rescinding July 2022 guidance from CMS with the subject ‘Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specific to Patients who are Pregnant or are Experiencing Pregnancy Loss,” a press release from CMS said, adding that such guidance no longer reflects the policy of this administration.

“CMS will continue to enforce EMTALA, which protects all individuals who present to a hospital emergency department seeking examination or treatment, including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy,” the statement added. “CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions.”

Pro-lifers were quick to celebrate the move from HHS. Roger Severino of The Heritage Foundation, for example, posted, “President Trump promised to dismantle the abortion radicalism left by his predecessor and today another abortion mandate bites the dust.”

Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

“Wide majorities of Americans oppose forcing doctors and hospitals to take innocent human life and this change goes back to respecting conscience and the rule of law,” he continued. “EMTALA requires hospitals to treat unborn children and mothers in labor, yet shamelessly, abortion radicals inverted this clearly pro-life law to unlawfully mandate abortion nationwide, even though every state already has life of the mother exceptions.”

“To add insult to injury, the Biden order refused to acknowledge that the law protected mothers, or even women. Instead calling them ‘pregnant patients,'” Severino noted. “A stain on America’s conscience is now gone, and good riddance.”

President Trump promised to dismantle the abortion radicalism left by his predecessor and today another abortion mandate bites the dust. Wide majorities of Americans oppose forcing doctors and hospitals to take innocent human life and this change goes back to respecting… pic.twitter.com/CwFxDfn8EH

— Roger Severino (@RogerSeverino_) June 3, 2025

Days after taking office in his second term, Trump signed two orders to further prevent taxpayers from funding abortion, as previously highlighted by The Daily Wire.

One of the measures, referred to as the Mexico City policy, prevents taxpayer funds from being sent to foreign non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions. The other, an executive order, strengthens the Hyde Amendment, which is a ban on the use of federal funds for abortion.

Related: Trump Restores Mexico City Policy, Ends Taxpayer Funding For Abortion