Court rules to restore webpages taken down by administration

U.S. District Judge John Bates today ordered the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration to restore webpages that were removed in compliance with the Trump administration's executive order on gender ideology, pending ongoing litigation. Bates granted a temporary order requested by Doctors for America, which said the removal of the webpages violated federal law.   

“Defendants, meanwhile, face a minimal burden if required to restore the public’s access to resources, many of which defendants made public for many years,” Bates said. “There is nothing in either the [Office of Personnel Management] memorandum or the record, and indeed defendants proffered no information at the hearing, to suggest the restoration of the removed webpages would pose a burden on the agencies’ ability to engage in their work.”