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December 18, 2025<\/p>\n
3 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Trump Administration Moves to Severely Curtail Access to Gender-Affirming Care for Minors<\/p>\n Health officials on Thursday announced a slew of measures that will restrict access to gender-affirming health care for young transgender people in the U.S.<\/p>\n By Lauren J. Young & Dan Vergano edited by Claire Cameron & Tanya Lewis<\/span><\/p>\n A demonstrator with a face painting of the trans flag during the Rise Up for Trans Youth rally against President Donald Trump\u2019s executive actions targeting transgender people in New York City on February 7, 2025.<\/p>\n Stephanie Keith\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n The Trump administration on Thursday announced sweeping measures to restrict gender-affirming health care for U.S. minors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among them, the administration plans to withhold federal money that could be used for gender-affirming care for minors from hospitals and health care providers, despite substantial evidence that such care is safe and effective. The effort could severely restrict access to gender-affirming care for young transgender people across the U.S., including in states with already established legal protections.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis morning, I signed a declaration: sex-rejecting procedures are neither safe nor effective treatment for children with gender dysphoria,\u201d said Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., at a press event to announce the new rules on Thursday.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Health care providers have criticized the measures as \u201cfrustrating\u201d and against medical evidence.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad, it\u2019s frustrating,\u201d says Johana Oviedo, an obstetrician based in New York City and a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. \u201cEveryone has the right to health care that is evidence-based, and we do just that. We provide evidence-based health care. That is why providers and all the major medical organizations agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based; it is lifesaving, and it\u2019s necessary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The new proposed rules target hospitals and providers who receive federal funding through the governmental health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid. Facilities providing gender-affirming care to kids and teens would no longer receive that funding under the proposals. They would prohibit using federal dollars under the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program to provide gender-affirming care. Officials on Thursday estimated that some $30 million in federal funds went toward gender-affirming care in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Food and Drug Administration is also issuing letters to manufacturers of breast binders, Kennedy said at the press event. And the proposals could affect people with disabilities by revoking a Biden administration move to classify gender dysphoria as a disability. In addition, the administration is issuing a warning to health care providers and other stakeholders that puberty blockers and other medical interventions that fall under the umbrella of gender-affirming care are not supported by evidence, according to Kennedy.<\/p>\n Gender-affirming care can include medical, mental health and social care that enables people to align their physical and social traits with their internal gender identity. It can range from counseling to puberty blockers to hormones and, in some rare cases, surgery, among other interventions. Several studies have shown that young people with access to gender-affirming care have better mental and emotional health outcomes than those without access, while blocking access to care has been shown to worsen mental health, including increasing the risk of suicide.<\/p>\n \u201cGender-affirming care is, in many, many aspects, lifesaving,\u201d says Oviedo, who provides such care. \u201cThere is plenty of evidence that shows it decreases anxiety and depression in our patients. We also have to trust our patients and their families. And I think they should be allowed to live their own authentic lives and not have government interfere in that.\u201d<\/p>\n The move is the latest effort by the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers that targets transgender people: it comes just a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill\u00a0seeking to criminalize gender transition treatment for minors, which is unlikely to pass the Senate. Earlier this year Kennedy released a report that attacked gender-affirming care and rejected the medical consensus of experts in transgender care. And President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders that deny the existence of transgender people and aim to restrict their access to care or participation in sports. Trans people were also banned from serving in the military in July, and the Department of State has moved to force Americans to list their sex assigned at birth on their passport, regardless of their gender identity.<\/p>\n The new rules will almost certainly be challenged in court.<\/p>\n This is a developing story and will be updated.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Tanya Lewis.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. 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