Trump Administration Could Soon Roll Out Two New Rules Protecting Kids From Sex-Change Procedures

NPR recently reported that two proposals from the Trump Administration could help protect children from sex-change procedures nationwide.

Written copies of the proposals haven’t been published yet, but NPR says it obtained a draft text of the rules.

One rule would prevent federal Medicaid funds from being used for sex-change procedures on kids. Another rule would block hospitals that perform these procedures from receiving Medicaid or Medicare funding.

The Department of Health and Human Services submitted both proposals to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review last summer. The proposed rules have not officially been published yet, but it sounds like both rules generally track with other policies the Trump Administration has implemented.

In January, President Trump issued an executive order prohibiting federal funding from being used for sex-change procedures on kids — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries.

Medical institutions and facilities who receive federal research or education grants were told to “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children” immediately, under the order. That order prompted hospitals nationwide to stop performing these procedures on kids.

Earlier this summer, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a public inquiry into whether U.S. doctors and clinics may have deceived parents and children about the risks of these procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice also subpoenaed doctors and medical facilities involved in performing sex-change procedures on minors.

In September, the U.S. Department of Justice sent Congress the federal Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act. The proposed federal law would generally prevent doctors, hospitals, and clinics from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

In recent years, men and women have testified about how they were rushed through gender transitions as children without understanding the procedures’ risks, consequences, or alternatives.

We now know pro-LGBT activists spent years manufacturing much of the medical “consensus” in support of these procedures.

Public health experts in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Finland, and other nations have found that science simply does not support giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act generally prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. A federal court recently upheld the law — which is good news.

We must do more to protect children from these dangerous procedures nationwide. We appreciate the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services working on federal rules to help do exactly that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.