Washington, December 19 (ANI): Health officials in the Trump administration announced on Thursday that the federal government will block transgender care for children by targeting hospitals and doctors that provide such services, CNN reported.
The proposed rules would prohibit hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid if they offer treatments such as puberty blockers and surgeries for transgender minors, effectively preventing federal coverage of these procedures.
“These procedures fail to meet professionally recognized standards of care,” said US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling many types of transgender care “malpractice.” “Medical professionals or entities providing sex-rejecting procedures to children are out of compliance with these standards of health care,” he added.
Medical groups sharply criticized the announcement, arguing it intrudes on physician-patient relationships and jeopardizes care for all patients. “Allowing the government to determine which patient groups deserve care sets a dangerous precedent, and children and families will bear the consequences,” said Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“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,” she added.
The announcement is part of a series of actions by the Trump administration targeting transgender people, including removing mentions of trans individuals from federal websites, halting data collection on trans health issues, excluding trans people from military service, and suing states that allow transgender athletes to compete in high school sports.
Meanwhile, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency is sending warning letters to 12 manufacturers and sellers of breast binders marketed for treating gender dysphoria in children. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya also stated the agency will end support for research into gender transition, calling it “junk science.”
HHS leaders cited their own review of evidence and reports from other countries, many of which have faced criticism for drawing broad conclusions from limited or poor-quality data.
The announcement came shortly after the House passed a bill, sponsored by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, that could imprison health care providers for up to 10 years for providing transgender care to minors. It remains unclear whether the GOP-led Senate will take up the measure, though it is expected to face significant opposition from Democrats, CNN reported.
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