In one of the most disgusting and fascistic moves by this second Trump administration — which is saying a lot! — a new report details how the Justice Department tried to subpoena the medical records of children seeking gender-affirming care in Philadelphia.

There are lines you don't expect to be crossed, and in the political and cultural battles being waged by the current Trump administration, it appears they have no qualms and no lines whatsoever. The Washington Post reports that the Justice Department sent a subpoena in June to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia seeking "every writing or record of whatever type," including emails, Zoom meetings, voicemails, notes, etc., from doctors regarding gender-affirming care, including the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

The subpeona, which is reportedly similar to others that were sent to medical facilities providing gender-affirming care to teens under the age of 19, constitutes a further escalation in an effort by the Trump administration to convince itself, and the American public, that trans people don't exist, and that such treatment of trans youth constitutes "mutilation," and a crime.

Chad Mizelle, chief of staff for Attorney General Pam Bondi, has referred to gender-affirming care — and by extension, trans-ness itself — as "one of the greatest frauds on the American public." And a department spokesperson has said that "every legal and law enforcement tool available [should be used] to protect innocent children" from "being mutilated under the guise of 'care'."

Given that the subpoena would likely violate a host of laws protecting patients' privacy, the action by the Trump administration seems likely aimed at intimidation more than anything else, and may not hold up in court — especially in states which have not passed laws banning such care. The Justice Department has made clear that they will try to seek criminal prosecutions against medical providers in this ongoing battle.

"The subpoena is a breathtakingly invasive government overreach," says Jennifer L. Levi, senior director of transgender and queer rights at GLAD Law, speaking to the Post. "It’s specifically and strategically designed to intimidate health care providers and health care institutions into abandoning their patients."

The June subpoena to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was made public in a court filing that was made by Washington State Attorney General Nicholas W. Brown. Brown has already had a win in federal court over this issue when, back in March, a judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking President Trump's executive order stropping funding from hospitals and programs that "promote gender ideology" and offer gender-affirming care.

Despite that, large insitutions that rely heavily on federal funding, like Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, have ceased providing gender-affirming care to minors, rather than go to war with the administration. Here in the Bay Area, Stanford Medicine announced in June that it was "pausing" all gender-affirming surgeries for youths under the age of 19.

Fewer than 3,000 children and teens are currently receiving gender-affirming care across the US, and it is estimated that fewer than two dozen youths under 19 undergo surgery on their genitals each year. And yet, the Trump administration and Fox News want everyone to believe this is a massive problem, and that Democrats and their doctors are coming for everyone's kids.

Homosexuality was similarly demonized and used as a political weapon by older generations of conservatives, and that culture war has just moved on to trans people now that gayness has achieved more widespread acceptance. Many of the same political opponents of gender-affirming care, though, also want positive portrayals of all queer people removed from classrooms and children's books, and they want the clock turned back on civil rights generally by about 60 or 70 years.

And we could also see an effort take shape to try to have same-sex marriage laws repealed, though most legal experts say that is unlikely to get far.

Related: Stanford Medicine Announces 'Pause' In Providing Gender-Affirming Surgeries for Trans Youth

Top image: Children's hospital Of Philadelphia on August 29, 2014 in Philadelphia, United States. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Getty Images)