In a controversial move, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at restricting federal funding and support for gender-affirming care for transgender minors and some adults. The order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” targets puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries for those under 19.
Trump called these treatments “harmful and irreversible,” urging federal agencies to withdraw support and enforce stricter laws against them. The order says, “Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions…This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
The order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to reassess and update medical guidelines for gender-affirming care. HHS is tasked with reviewing existing research on gender dysphoria and creating new guidelines, while the Department of Justice will investigate healthcare providers and enforce tighter legal measures against what the order refers to as “deceptive practices.”
The order also mandates that the Department of Defense remove coverage for gender-affirming care under TRICARE, the military’s healthcare system. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management is instructed to negotiate reduced premiums by removing coverage for pediatric transgender treatments under federal employee health plans.
Whistleblower protections are demanded for those who oppose gender-affirming treatments within healthcare systems. Critics, including LGBTQ+ groups and medical professionals, have condemned the order as discriminatory and harmful, particularly to transgender youth already facing mental health struggles. Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said, “Questions about this care should be answered by doctors–not politicians.”
