President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at ending federal funding and support for gender-affirming care for individuals under 19 years of age.
This bold step aligns with Trump’s broader efforts to scale back protections and medical care for transgender individuals, a move that has already sparked immediate pushback from advocacy groups and promises of legal challenges.
The executive order specifically targets federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, directing them to withdraw support from health providers that offer gender-transition treatments for minors. The White House characterizes such treatments, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgical procedures, as “chemical and surgical mutilation.” Trump’s administration has emphasized the need for medical professionals to halt gender-transition care for minors and to adopt new standards for treating gender dysphoria.
In addition to restricting funding for medical care, the order tasks federal agencies with revising guidance on gender-affirming medical practices. The Department of Health and Human Services is set to review the standards for gender-affirming care, which the White House has criticized as “junk science,” and release new recommendations within 90 days. Trump’s directive also includes steps to ensure medical schools and hospitals receiving federal research grants are not engaged in gender-transition procedures.
The move is part of a broader policy shift by the Trump administration that includes previous actions such as the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, the refusal to recognize non-binary gender identities on federal documents, and restrictions on access to gender-affirming care in prisons. Trump’s push to end federal support for gender transition care for minors has intensified tensions with civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, who have vowed to fight these policies in court.
Supporters of the order, including Trump’s allies, argue that gender-transition procedures for minors are often unnecessary and can lead to irreversible physical and psychological consequences. They highlight concerns about the potential long-term effects of such medical treatments, including the impact on fertility and the ability to breastfeed, as well as the possibility that some minors may later regret their decision to undergo such procedures.
The debate over gender-affirming care for minors is not new. While some medical professionals and organizations support these treatments as essential for alleviating gender dysphoria and improving mental health outcomes, others raise concerns about the lack of long-term studies and the reversibility of some treatments, such as puberty blockers. Recent studies show that the vast majority of transgender minors do not undergo gender-affirming surgeries or take medications like hormones, with most focusing on counseling and social transitions.
Trump’s executive order underscores his administration’s stance that such procedures are not medically necessary for minors, and that families should have more control over the decisions regarding their children’s care. It also signals the administration’s commitment to protecting children from what it views as potentially harmful medical interventions.
The order has led to immediate legal and political battles. Advocacy groups like Lambda Legal and the ACLU have vowed to challenge the executive order, arguing that it violates constitutional protections and interferes with personal medical decisions. However, with the growing number of states implementing similar restrictions, including laws banning gender-affirming care for minors, the legal landscape on this issue is rapidly changing.
With input from Axios, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.
