(WHTM) — Gov. Josh Shapiro joined a legal challenge against the Trump administration’s restrictions on gender-affirming care.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, names President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice as defendants. It challenges recent moves to severely restrict access to gender-affirming care for anyone under 19, including in states where treatment is legal.

The suit argues these directives have no legal basis and trample on state law, particularly where gender-affirming care is supported and protected.

Still, the lawsuit said, “the administration has explicitly threatened civil and criminal prosecution of providers of this care and launched criminal investigations into children’s hospitals that provide this care,” creating a chilling effect for providers of gender-affirming care.

Last month, the Department of Justice said it sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in gender-affirming care for minors. While Pittsburgh-based UPMC could not confirm it received a subpoena, a spokesperson said “these actions have made it abundantly clear that our clinicians can no longer provide certain types of gender-affirming care without risk of criminal prosecution.”

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are parties to the suit. Other than Pennsylvania, all have Democratic attorneys general.

Shapiro, a former attorney general himself, has routinely joined suits against the Trump administration in his capacity as Pennsylvania governor. The state’s Republican attorney general, Dave Sunday, has resisted suing the president or his administration.

The suit comes after Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg criticized the governor’s opposition to a proposed “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” which would require student athletes to participate in sports that correspond to their gender at birth.

All Republicans and a few Democrats passed the bill in the State Senate, but Democrats in the State House have buried it in committee.

Shapiro had a lot to say about the bill.

“What we do not need in Pennsylvania, politicians, extremist politicians like Donald Trump, Doug Mastriano, and these others trying to legislate a student’s participation,” the governor told WITF.

State House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R-Fulton/Bedford) called Shapiro’s comments unhelpful and said they could further stall talks over an already delayed state budget.

Asked to clarify, the governor said he was referring to an “extreme political agenda focused on taking away freedoms from Pennsylvanians.”