The US Department of Health and Human Services have revealed a series of regulatory actions that will effectively ban gender affirming care for transgender youth across the country.
The sweeping changes will restrict the sue of puberty blocker medication, gender affirming hormones and surgical options for transgender youth. Hospitals that continue to provide services will have their federal funding cut.
This is not medicine, it is malpractice,” Secretary of Health Robert F Kennedy Jnr said at a media conference on Thursday. “Sex-rejecting procedures rob children of their futures.”
The administration’s stance is against the advice of most major medical organisations who have voiced support for gender affirming care. So far 27 US states have limited transgender health care options, but the move from the Trump administration would make it a national ban.
“The multitude of efforts we are seeing from federal legislators to strip transgender and nonbinary youth of the health care they need is deeply troubling,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, of The Trevor Project, a non-profit suicide prevention organization for LBGTQ+ youth, who called the changes a “one-size-fits-all mandate from the federal government” on a decision that should be between a doctor and patient.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign said the administration was dictating people’s healthcare across the country.
“The Trump administration is relentless in denying health care to this country, and especially the transgender community. Families deserve the freedom to go to the doctor and get the care that they need and to have agency over the health and wellbeing of their children,” Robinson said. “But these proposed actions would put Donald Trump and RFK Jr. in those doctor’s offices, ripping health care decisions from the hands of families and putting it in the grips of the anti-LGBTQ+ fringe. Make no mistake: these rules aim to completely cut off medically necessary care from children no matter where in this country they live. It’s the Trump Administration dictating who gets their prescription filled and who has their next appointment canceled altogether.
“Let’s be clear, these rules are proposals, not binding law. Community members, healthcare providers, administrators and our allies should be vocal in pushing back by sharing the ways these proposals would be devastating to their families and the healthcare community at large. We’ll be there right with you, fighting this every step of the way.”
Do you need some support?
If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, support and counselling are available from:
QLife: 1800 184 527 / qlife.org.au
QLife are a counselling and referral service for LGBTQIA+ people.
DISCHARGED: info@discharged.asn.au / discharged.asn.au
Discharged is a trans-led support service with peer support groups for trans and gender diverse folks.
Lifeline: 13 11 14 / lifeline.org.au
Beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 / www.beyondblue.org.au
