Trump administration announces initiatives to eradicate gender-affirming care for minors
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced new initiatives aimed at abolishing transition-related medical care for minors throughout the United States, labeling such treatments as “sex-rejecting procedures,” a term employed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As part of this action, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will begin a rule-making process that would prevent hospitals from administering puberty blockers, hormone treatments, or surgical procedures to minors seeking to participate in Medicare or Medicaid. The proposal further seeks to disallow Medicaid funds from covering this category of care. Together, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide coverage for nearly half of all children in the United States. “Under my leadership, fulfilling President Trump’s directive, the federal government will utilize every available resource to halt unsafe, irreversible practices that jeopardize our children,” stated Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, in a press release. “This administration is dedicated to safeguarding America’s most vulnerable. Our children deserve greater – and we are committed to fulfilling that commitment.” HHS also declared that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will issue warnings to 12 companies involved in the production or sale of breast binders for minors dealing with gender dysphoria. The department contends that these companies are participating in illicit marketing practices. Gender dysphoria pertains to the emotional distress arising from a discrepancy between an individual’s gender identity and their sex assigned at birth. HHS is additionally moving to overturn a policy implemented during the Biden administration that designated gender dysphoria as a disability under federal statutes. A newly proposed adjustment to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 would clarify that “disability” and “individual with a disability” do not encompass gender dysphoria unless related to a physical impairment. These initiatives mark the most recent in a series of measures enacted by the Trump administration to restrict access to certain types of transgender healthcare for both minors and adults. In the early weeks of his second term, Trump endorsed several executive orders addressing transgender matters, including one declaring that only two genders exist and another preventing federal funding from being allocated to hospitals offering transition-related care to minors. In May, HHS published a review asserting that the supporting evidence for the effects of gender-affirming care for minors “is very low,” a finding that contrasts with the stance of most prominent US medical organizations, which advocate for access to such care and have condemned efforts to limit it. On Wednesday evening, the House approved a bill introduced by Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, aimed at criminalizing parents and providers who offer gender-affirming care to individuals under the age of 18.
Published: 2025-12-18 17:20:00
source: www.theguardian.com
