President-elect Donald Trump has revealed plans to slash “gender-affirming” care for minors by issuing an executive order directing federal agencies to stop supporting or promoting sex changes at any age. Trump also plans to ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states. He also announced intentions to ban hospitals and healthcare providers involved in gender-transition treatments for minors from participating in Medicaid and Medicare, and to support legal actions allowing individuals to sue doctors who perform these procedures on minors.
During his campaign, Trump focused on transgender issues, particularly highlighting Vice President Kamala Harris’ track record on sex change procedures for incarcerated individuals in California. He released a successful ad that contrasted his stance on transgender issues with Harris’, which was believed to have had a significant impact on swing voters. The Biden-Harris administration, on the other hand, expanded access to surgical procedures for minors by interpreting “sex discrimination” within the Affordable Care Act to include gender identity and sexual orientation through a regulation created by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Under Biden, the expanded definition under Title IX meant that medical providers not offering sex change procedures were at risk of losing federal funding. However, the Supreme Court blocked this regulation in August. Despite this setback, health officials in the Biden administration successfully urged the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to remove the age limit in its guidelines for transgender surgical procedures for adolescents, according to unsealed court documents. While over 25 states in the U.S. have enacted bans and restrictions on surgical procedures and hormonal prescriptions for transgender youth, roughly 24 states still permit these treatments for children.
Trump has been appointing members of his administration at a quicker pace than during his first term. Candidates for the Department of Health and Human Services include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Eric Hargan, former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Seema Verma, Paul Mango, Joseph Ladapo, Roger Severino, Brian Blase, and Joe Grogan. The Trump-Vance transition team has not yet provided a comment on these potential appointments. As the nation awaits the official announcement of who will lead the Department of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration, it is clear that significant changes to policies regarding gender-affirming care for minors are on the horizon.
