Hospitals in Colorado, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., have temporarily stopped providing gender-affirming care for young people as they assess President Donald Trump‘s recent executive order. The order aims to cut federal support for such care.
Denver Health in Colorado has halted gender-affirming surgeries for people under 19 to comply with the order and maintain federal funding. It is unclear whether the hospital will continue offering other gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers.
In Virginia, VCU Health and Children’s Hospital of Richmond have suspended both gender-affirming medications and surgeries for those under 19. In Washington, D.C., Children’s National Hospital has paused prescriptions for puberty blockers and hormone therapy while it evaluates the situation further. The hospital already did not perform gender-affirming surgeries on minors.
Trump signed the order on Tuesday as part of his effort to reverse policies from the Biden administration that protected transgender people and their care. The order directs agencies to ensure that hospitals receiving federal grants “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”
Other hospitals, such as Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, said they would continue their current practices while reviewing the order’s potential impact. “Our team will continue to advocate for access to medically necessary care, grounded in science and compassion,” the hospital said in a statement.
The language in Trump’s order, which includes terms like “maiming” and “mutilation,” contradicts the typical terminology used for gender-affirming care in the US. It also dismisses guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) as “junk science.” WPATH responded by stating that restrictions on transgender youth’s access to necessary medical care are harmful.
Gender-affirming care for transgender youth is not common. Recent studies show that fewer than 1 in 1,000 US adolescents with commercial insurance received puberty blockers or hormones over a five-year period. Most gender-affirming surgeries are not performed on minors.
Denver Health said Trump’s order would affect the mental health of its transgender patients but that they would continue to receive primary and behavioral health care. “Denver Health is committed to and deeply concerned for the health and safety of our gender diverse patients under the age of 19,” the hospital said in a statement.
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