Trump Administration’s illegal attempt to remove access to vital public health information endangered the health of all Americans
SAN FRANCISCO (July 3, 2025) — A Federal District Court Judge today ruled in favor of San Francisco and Doctors for America, represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, in a lawsuit brought to preserve access to essential public health information and data on federal agency websites. The Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to erase decades of valuable public health information stemmed from one of President Donald Trump’s anti-trans executive orders. In an order on a Motion for Summary Judgment, the Court vacated the agency policies that led to the removal of the public health data, required the restoration of webpages that Plaintiffs rely on to treat patients and protect public health, and found that the Trump Administration violated federal law in taking them down.
Medical professionals rely on the public health data at issue to treat patients, and local health departments use it to protect communities from infectious disease and public health threats. The webpages and datasets that were removed included information used to monitor and prevent infectious disease outbreaks as well as information specific to treating conditions impacting youth, LGBTQ+ communities, and people seeking reproductive and fertility care.
“Health care providers must have all of the tools and data necessary to keep our communities healthy,” said City Attorney Chiu. “Blocking access to accurate public health information puts us all in danger and makes it harder to combat infectious diseases and public health threats. We are grateful the Court saw through this attempt to block access to crucial public health data and found that taking down this scientific information violates the law.”
“The court found that the government violated the law when it took down important health information that physicians and other public health professionals rely on to keep all of us healthy,” said Zach Shelley, a Public Citizen Litigation Group attorney and lead counsel on the case. “The decision serves as a reminder that the government must follow the law, just like the rest of us.”
“It is heartening to see that the court agrees with doctors, researchers, and patients that the government cannot unlawfully and without explanation remove crucial health information and datasets. With this ruling, we can provide care for our patients and protect public health based on evidence, rather than ideology,” said Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, member of the board of directors of Doctors for America.
Background
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14168, entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” In response to the Executive Order, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued an unlawful memorandum nine days later directing agencies to take down webpages, social media content, and other outward facing media “that inculcate or promote gender ideology.”
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) then issued a directive, instructing HHS and agencies under its authority to remove information and data in line with the President’s anti-trans executive order and OPM’s memorandum. HHS and several of its component agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), removed numerous webpages and datasets from their websites. Following the removal, the CDC posted a statement on its website declaring that the “website is being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.”
Health professionals regularly use the information that had been removed to treat patients, conduct research, and inform public health responses to infectious diseases and public health threats. The information and datasets cover a range of subjects including youth risk behaviors, adolescent and school health, social vulnerability and environmental justice, HIV, contraception, fertility and assisted reproductive technologies, as well as how to develop clinical trials, including to improve inclusion of women and underrepresented populations. Much of the information has been publicly available on the health agency websites for years, with some webpages originating in the 1990s.
The treatment guidance and datasets removed from the websites are vital resources used every day by health care providers to make real-time clinical decisions in hospitals, doctors’ offices, and emergency departments across the country. In addition to treating physicians, local health departments like San Francisco’s Department of Public Health (SFDPH) use the webpages and datasets to conduct research, monitor public health threats, inform public health responses, and help operationalize on-the-ground treatment and interventions.
San Francisco is an international destination with millions of people traveling in and out of the City every year. It is crucial that SFDPH have accurate, up-to-date information on infectious diseases and public health threats. Local health departments must rely on the expertise and reach of a national agency like CDC, which has a global view of emerging infectious diseases in other parts of the country and world.
On February 4, Doctors for America, represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, brought a lawsuit challenging the unlawful OPM memo, HHS directive, and removal of the webpages and datasets. Plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO), which U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates granted on February 11, requiring Defendants to restore webpages and datasets that were unlawfully removed from their websites. San Francisco joined the litigation on February 18 to bring the perspectives of local public health departments and public health officials to the effort and to combat the Trump Administration’s attempts at trans erasure.
The parties then filed Motions for Summary Judgment, which the Court ruled on today. The Court’s order resolves the case and found that the OPM and HHS directives requiring the removal of the webpages and datasets violated federal law and harmed health care professionals. The Order requires restoration of webpages that Plaintiffs rely on and vacates the OPM and HHS policies that led to the webpage removals.
The Court’s Memorandum Opinion and Order can be found here. The case is Doctors for America v. Office of Personnel Management, et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 25-cv-322.
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