The Trump administration on Thursday moved to cut off all federal funding from hospitals that perform transgender medical procedures on minors, escalating its crackdown on what officials describe as irreversible and unproven interventions on children.
Under new rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, hospitals that administer puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-related surgeries to minors would be barred from participating in Medicare and Medicaid, according to a press release.
HHS officials said the policy is designed to ensure the federal government is not "in business" with institutions that subject children to permanent medical interventions. Doctors who perform the procedures could also face penalties under the new regulations.
The funding cutoff follows a comprehensive HHS review released in May warning that sex-change surgeries and related medical interventions for minors carry "significant risks" while offering "very weak evidence of benefit." The 409-page report found that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures are associated with irreversible effects, including infertility and impaired physical development, citing systematic reviews from around the world.
The review was conducted in response to Trump’s January 28 executive order, Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, which declared that the federal government would no longer "fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support" so-called gender-affirming care for minors. An HHS press release said the report fills a gap in the medical literature, and NIH director Jay Bhattacharya said the government’s duty is to "protect our nation’s children—not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions."
