A number of new regulations have been proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration to stop transgender children under the age of 18 from receiving gender-affirming care in American hospitals.
One of the proposed rules, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), would prevent hospitals and clinics from utilizing its programs if they opted to continue providing gender-affirming care on Thursday.
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Federal Medicaid funds could not participate in gender-affirming procedures under a second rule.
Both Medicare and Medicaid are government-provided health insurance plans that are available to vulnerable populations. Medicare provides coverage for older Americans and those with disabilities, whereas Medicaid primarily provides for low-income households.
The Trump administration stated in a statement that the majority of healthcare providers collaborate with Medicare and Medicaid to provide their patients with health insurance. Therefore, the proposed rule would effectively outlaw gender-affirming care.
The CMS statement reads, “Nearly all US hospitals are Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.”
The US government will not engage in business with organizations that intentionally or unintentionally harm children, according to the statement.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also signed a declaration rejecting gender-affirmation therapy as harmful to youth on Thursday in addition to the two proposed rules.
The Food and Drug Administration also sent notices to 12 manufacturers of chest binders, warning that marketing to transgender youth would be deemed against the current administration, in accordance with his orders.
dissention with the general medical opinion
Despite repeated warnings from leading medical organizations that prohibiting such treatment could have severe, lifelong consequences, the Trump administration’s latest broadside against transgender healthcare was marked by the string of pronouncements.
However, Kennedy, who has no formal medical training, attacked some of the nation’s top medical organizations on Thursday, accusing them of breaking their professional standards.
According to Kennedy, “the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics spread the false impression that chemical and surgical sex-rejecting procedures may be beneficial for children with gender dysphoria.”
They broke their Hippocratic Oath, but they did no harm. Young people who are prone to ‘gender-affirming care’ have suffered long-lasting physical and psychological harm. Not a prescription, this. It is error.
Mehmet Oz, the director of the CMS, also accused healthcare providers of discrediting patients by prescribing gender-affirming medications. He suggested that the patient’s motivation was more likely to be profit than patient health.
The doctor can’t look them in the eyes and treat them like a lost, confused child in need of assistance. They provide a chance. They eventually turn into victims, Oz said.
Even though it makes sense, “reasonable, evidence-based objections that a child’s confusion might resolve over time have been ignored.”
The transgender community is being targeted by the Trump administration, who denies that such a person even exists.
Instead, Trump announced in an executive order that only the concept of biological sex, not gender identity, and that people would be classified as either male or female, based on their birth certificates, as soon as they entered office on January 20.
Transgender identity was also deemed a “false” concept by the executive order.
“Problem that doesn’t actually exist”
Eight days later, on January 28, Trump issued a second executive order urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to end practices he described as “the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”
The proposed rule and declarations to limit gender-affirming care were based on that order, which was cited on Thursday.
However, there is a general consensus within the healthcare industry regarding the benefits of gender-affirming care, including reducing suicide, anxiety, self-harm, and depression.
Gender-affirming care can take a variety of forms, including surgery and puberty blockers, which are regarded as safe and reversible for children who want to stop puberty from kicking in.
Surgery is incredibly uncommon among transgender youth, and such treatments are only suggested after thorough consultation with a reputable medical professional.
According to a study conducted by Harvard University in 2024, an average of 2.1 teenagers, between the ages of 15 and 17, sought gender-affirming surgery, according to medical insurance claims from 2019.
No cases were reported under the age of 12 and that average dropped to 0.1 for teenagers between 13 and 14 years old.
Dannie Dai, one of the study’s authors, stated in a press release that the findings suggested that “legislation blocking gender-affirming care among TGD [transgender and gender-diverse] youth is not about protecting children, but it is rooted in bias and stigma.”
Dai continued, “These government actions are intended to address a perceived issue that doesn’t actually exist.”
Organizations like the Human Rights Campaign emailed the public shortly after the announcements on Thursday to express their concern about the new regulations that the Trump administration has proposed.
The Human Rights Campaign posted a 60-day “comment period” on its social media page, stating that “these rules now face a 60-day comment period.”
“A lot of comments can stifle it, force changes, or lay the foundation for upcoming litigation.” That’s where YOU begin, YES.
Current legislative actions
27 states, including significant population centers like Texas, Ohio, and Florida, currently forbid gender-affirming care for minors.
In the process, according to the Human Rights Campaign, nearly 40% of the 300,000 transgender youth in the US reside in states where they may not have access to the care they may need.
Actions taken at the federal level have been backed up by those states. In a six-to-three vote, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on providing minors with gender-affirming care.
A bill passed by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday that would make providing gender-affirming care to patients under 18 illegal. The bill’s passage to the Senate, where it faces uncertain outcomes, was supported by 216 representatives, including several Democrats.
On Thursday, a new House bill is scheduled to be approved in order to end Medicaid benefits for transgender youth seeking gender-affirming care.
While opponents point out that some gender-affirming treatments, including puberty blockers, are reversible and can protect teenagers from physical and emotional harm, advocates point out that some of these treatments, including those that are used for puberty, may cause regrets for young people later in life.
Representative Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of the House, said she thinks the general public is less aware of the benefits of gender-affirming therapies.
McBride told reporters, “I understand the need for this care and how difficult it is to understand it.” However, one of the things that gets so lost in this discussion is that today’s transgender adults were once-culturally diverse. I once had a problem.
She continued, “I never had a childhood without that pain,” which is my biggest regret in life.
McBride criticized the “hate” she believed was the cause of the legislation and cast a ballot against it. She later wrote on social media that “politicians should never get themselves into the personal health care decisions of patients, parents, and their providers,” and that includes trans Americans.
Kennedy, in contrast, said he anticipated lawsuits from the Trump administration to challenge the changes.
“I believe that will occur,” she said. He claimed that it is nearly impossible to count the number of lawsuits involving my name right now.
Source: Aljazeera
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