US hospitals suspend healthcare for transgender youth after Trump order

In the wake of Donald Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold federal funding from hospitals that offer gender-affirming care to individuals under the age of 19, several major hospitals across the US have stopped providing such treatments.

The 28 January executive order directed federal departments and agencies to ensure that hospitals and medical institutions receiving federal research or education grants stop providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgical procedures to transgender youth under the age of 19.

“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the order reads.

In response, several hospitals around the country have stopped providing gender-affirming care procedures for those under 19 while they evaluate and assess the order.

A spokesperson for Denver Health in Colorado told the Associated Press that the hospital had stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries for individuals under the age of 19, to comply with the executive order and continue receiving federal funding.

In a statement posted to its website, Denver Health said that it was “working to understand and comply with the full implications of the broadly worded order” and that “guidance on changes to medical care is being handled privately so that we can best support our patients and their families”.

The Denver hospital said it was “deeply concerned for the health and safety of our gender diverse patients under the age of 19”.

“We recognize this order will impact gender-diverse youth, including increased risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality,” the hospital stated.

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Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2025