Republicans are making moves to end gender-affirming care for minors in two different branches of government. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to introduce new restrictions on that type of care, including punishments for hospitals that provide it.
Meanwhile, House Republicans passed two bills targeting treatments for minors. In America, 3.3% of kids aged 13 to 17 identify as transgender.
What is gender-affirming care?
Gender-affirming care is described as a type of medical treatment to bring people’s bodies more in alignment with their sense of gender.
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According to proponents of gender-affirming care availability, the various services offered are not limited to gender reconstruction procedures and other modifications. Gender-affirming care can also include treatments for erectile dysfunction, laser hair removal and more.
The Trump administration’s announcement is focused on the types of treatments for transgender people, especially when they are offered to children. Those include puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy and in rare cases, surgery.
RFK and Oz’s plan
In a joint press conference Thursday morning, Kennedy and Oz announced their plan to make it more difficult to provide gender-affirming care.
“The Trump administration will not stand by while ideology, misinformation and propaganda push vulnerable young people into decisions they cannot fully understand and that they can never reverse,” Kennedy said.
The two said the government would pull federal funding for any hospitals that offer the treatment.
“We’re announcing a notice of proposed rulemaking that ends taxpayer funding of sex-rejecting procedures for children in Medicaid and [Children’s Health Insurance Program] — full stop,” Oz said.
As part of the announcement, Oz and Kennedy said any hospitals that provide this type of care will be prohibited from participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
Losing those federal funding sources would cripple hospital finances. On average, more than 40% of spending on hospital care comes from those two programs.
Kennedy also said the administration plans to stop Medicare from funding “sex-rejecting procedures.”
“These rules are a baseless intrusion into the patient-physician relationship,” Susan J. Kressly, MD, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement to Straight Arrow News. “Patients, their families, and their physicians — not politicians or government officials — should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them. The government’s actions today make that task harder, if not impossible, for families of gender-diverse and transgender youth.”
The proposed rules for Medicare and Medicaid are now subject to a 60-day public comment period.
“It is important to remember that these rules are not in effect today,” Sasha Buchert, director of the Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project at Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said in a statement. “They are merely proposals with a notice and comment process ahead, so we don’t even know what their final form will take. We encourage all to use the comment portals provided to let HHS know just how dangerous and cruel these proposed regulations are, and how unconscionable it is for this administration to hold affordable critical health care hostage — all in service of this Administration’s campaign to erase transgender people from existence.”
Those new rules could face legal challenges, according to the New York Times.
It’s also unclear how this will impact states’ rights. Several states already restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors, while others protect hospitals that offer those treatments.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration will also send warnings to a dozen breast binder manufacturers, warning them not to market the devices to children. Breast binders are a compression garment, often used to flatten the appearance of breasts.
“If the manufacturers don’t comply, they could face enforcement actions, including product seizures,” Kennedy said.
Do No Harm in Medicaid Act
On the same day as the announcement, the House passed the Do No Harm in Medicaid Act sponsored by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.
If enacted, that legislation would ban federal Medicaid funding from paying for gender transition procedures for people under the age of 18.
“Using Medicaid for unscientific, irreversible procedures on minors is an abominable betrayal of our most vulnerable,” Crenshaw said in a statement after the vote. “This is a crucial step in protecting our children from the depraved actors that would do them harm.”
The House’s first transgender member criticized Republicans for this bill and other anti-trans legislation.
“They would rather have us focus on and debate a misunderstood and vulnerable one percent of the population instead of focusing on the fact that they are gutting everyone’s health care in order to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest 1%,” Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., said.
The bill passed 215-201 along partisan lines, with four Democrats voting with Republicans.
Despite having some bipartisan support in the House, it’s unclear if this bill will have enough support in the Senate to become law.
Protect Child’s Innocence Act
The announcement comes one day after the House passed a bill that would make gender-affirming care a federal felony punishable by up to ten years in prison.
The “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” was originally introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., as one of her last legislative moves before announcing her retirement.
“This is a win for children all over America!!” Greene posted on X following the vote.
Civil rights groups criticized the legislation.
“We strongly condemn the passage of this measure and urge members of the Senate to do everything in their power to prevent it from ever becoming law,” Mike Zamore, National Director of Policy & Government Affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in response to the vote.
The House voted along partisan lines in favor of the bill, with three Democrats voting yes.
Despite passing with some Democratic support, CNN reports the bill’s passage in the Senate is unlikely.
