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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro drew sharp criticism after joining a lawsuit to block President Donald Trump from placing prohibitions on juvenile gender surgeries and criticizing supporters of a state Senate bill that would ban biological males from competing in girls sports.
The potential 2028 Democratic hopeful was careful to distinguish that his opposition to Trump’s move is not necessarily in support of such procedures, but because he believes the doctor’s office is no place for the federal government.
“I am suing the Trump administration alongside 16 other states for threatening baseless civil investigations and criminal prosecutions against healthcare providers in Pennsylvania and trying to take medical decisions away from parents and local communities,” Shapiro said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“The freedom to make healthcare decisions should be between parents, their children and their doctor, and I will not stand by while the federal government tries to infringe on the rights and freedoms of Pennsylvania families,” the governor said.
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However, that did not quell concerns among the state’s Senate GOP majority. A spokesman for the caucus’ campaign committee called it Shapiro’s “attempt to ingratiate himself with the Democrats’ radical base [that] puts the health of children at risk.”
“Josh Shapiro’s presidential aspirations are no secret,” SRCC Executive Director Cody Harbaugh said.
Shapiro also explicitly lambasted Trump and potential second-time gubernatorial opponent Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, as “extremist politicians” for “trying to legislate a student’s participation [in scholastic sports] and legislate the restriction on freedom the way they’ve tried to do on many other things.”
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Mastriano is a co-sponsor of the “Save Women Sports Act” from state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Huntingdon, which would ban biological males from girls sports. It mirrors similar efforts at the federal level. He also authored the “Two-Gender Protection Act” to prohibit Harrisburg from recognizing transgender people.
“Josh Shapiro just called Senator Mastriano and President Trump ‘extremist politicians’ for standing up for women’s sports. Let’s be honest. It’s Shapiro who’s extreme,” Mastriano countered in comments to Fox News Digital.
“He’s denying science and forcing biological males into women’s sports,” Mastriano added, calling such a push from the left “a woke patriarchy that tramples women’s rights.”
“We cannot allow the opportunities that Title IX enshrined for women to be lost,” Ward said of her bill in a separate statement.
Mastriano, whose populist streak has ruffled feathers with some in his own party, is seen as a top potential opponent to Shapiro again in 2026.
He recently dropped a survey on social media asking supporters whether the PAGOP should endorse primary candidates amid reports some donors and county GOP chairs want State Treasurer Stacy Garrity to run.
Shapiro expressed his criticisms of Trump and Mastriano in public remarks reported by WHYY as well but added that the Democratic-majority state House of Representatives hasn’t taken up the Senate-passed bill and that he “hasn’t reviewed it specifically.”
The White House said the lawsuit Shapiro joined is “exactly why the Democratic Party’s approval continues to hit new lows.
“They back radical policies that over 90% of America does not support,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital.
“President Trump took decisive action on day one to stop the despicable mutilation and chemical castration of children, which everyday Americans resoundingly support. The president has the lawful authority to protect America’s vulnerable children through executive action, and the administration looks forward to ultimate victory on this issue.”
Shapiro has broken with some in his party on issues or people considered “extreme” on the right.
When antisemitic protests broke out at the University of Pennsylvania, Shapiro broke with progressives and demanded the college “act [and] disband the encampment and restore order.”
As Republicans criticized his comments on Ward’s bill and he became a party to the lawsuit against Trump, the SRCC suggested many Democrats are being pulled further left, a shift they attribute to the early success of New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral bid.
“With the victories of progressive Democrat candidates in places like New York City, Shapiro knows he has no choice but to abandon common sense,” the SRCC said in a statement.
Shapiro, however, recently criticized Mamdani for failing to rein in his most radical backers.
“You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there,” he said.
Mastriano said, “don’t believe” Shapiro when he “pretends to be a moderate” in cases like the Trump lawsuit.
Shapiro supporters pointed to a July ranking placing him as the nation’s 9th most popular governor.
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