Federally-funded hospitals continue sex changes for minors despite Trump order
Numerous hospitals that receive federal funding are reportedly continuing to offer body-mutilating sex change procedures to minors despite President Donald Trump’s recent executive order vowing to slash funding for such facilities.
Altogether, 37 federally-funded hospitals providing surgical procedures or drugs to individuals under 18 who have gender dysphoria confirmed to the Daily Caller that they are still administering so-called interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and, in some cases, surgery. The list of hospitals was compiled by the Trans Health Project.
A staff member at Boston Medical Center told the Daily Caller that, based on their understanding, the executive order has not altered the services offered by their providers.
Similarly, a front desk employee at Bay State Medical Center in Massachusetts indicated no changes had been communicated regarding the provision of so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors. The employee also noted there had been a recent surge in new patient inquiries.
Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 28 targeting federal funding for medical institutions involved in what the order described as the “chemical and surgical mutilation of children.” The directive instructed agency heads overseeing research or educational grants to ensure compliance with the funding restriction in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget.
“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 these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the order said.
Some hospitals the Daily Caller contacted affirmed they are providing not only puberty blockers and hormone therapy but also surgical interventions or referrals for minors. A staff member at the University of Minnesota Health noted that her employer is seeing patients as young as 14 for “top surgery” — a euphemism for mastectomies of young girls.
Mount Sinai’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in New York City confirmed to the Daily Caller that they offer surgical options for minors seeking to transition, with decisions made individually by physicians without a fixed age limit.
Children’s Hospital Colorado pointed to ongoing lawsuits against Trump’s order as justification for resuming gender transition treatments, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, as stated in a voicemail from their True Center for Gender Diversity.
The University of Michigan’s medical center told the Caller it provides hormone therapy to patients under 18. Michigan Medicine reported receiving $482.8 million from NIH in fiscal year 2023, ranking it 11th among federally funded research institutions.
Legal challenges from states like Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Colorado resulted in a preliminary injunction granted by a Biden-appointed judge in Seattle on Feb. 28. A separate ruling from a Baltimore federal judge, also appointed by Biden, mandated continued funding for hospitals offering these services during an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit.
Some hospitals have scaled back transgender services for minors following Trump’s order.
The University of Virginia stopped accepting new patients for youth gender treatments, with a representative confirming no medications are offered to those under 19.
Children’s National Hospital also paused new hormone therapies and refills, citing the order, though they continue to provide behavioral health support.
“I think, as a whole, hospitals are afraid of providers losing their license if they continue to do it under the executive order, so … it’s the best guidance for the time being,” a representative told the conservative outlet.
The “Cass Review,” a comprehensive four-year study commissioned by the National Health Service in England, questioned the efficacy of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria, citing limited evidence of mental health benefits and concerns over long-term effects. The NHS consequently restricted such treatments to clinical research settings.
Here are the Hospitals Pausing Child Sex Change Procedures in the Wake of Trump’s Executive Order
In January 2025, President Trump signed an executive order halting taxpayer funding of child sex change procedures through federal grants and health benefit programs. By making taxpayer funding contingent on ending so-called “gender-affirming care,” the order incentivizes medical facilities that rely on federal funds to halt their child sex change programs.
Already, hospitals and medical facilities across the country are curtailing minors’ access to these harmful procedures.
Here are the hospitals that have taken action:
- Denver Health: Confirmed to the Associated Press that, to comply with the executive order, it would no longer perform sex change surgeries on minors.[UPDATE: Denver Health announced it will resume providing cross-sex hormones to children on February 20].
- Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C: Paused prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors to comply with the order.
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: Announced on April 4 that they were no longer offering “gender-affirming care” to individuals under the age of 19.
- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health: No longer providing surgical procedures as well as gender transition drugs to minors. [UPDATE: VCU Health will resume offering some sex change services for existing patients but won’t accept new patients, Axios reported February 25.]
- Children’s Hospital of Richmond: No longer providing surgical procedures as well as gender transition drugs to minors.
- University of Virginia (UVA) Health: No longer providing therapy referrals, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and referrals for sex change surgery to minors. [UPDATE: UVA reinstated its “gender-affirming care” program in late February for existing patients.]
- New York University (NYU) Langone Health: Has “begun canceling appointments for transgender children” according to The New York Times.
- Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Virginia: Announced it would not provide puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of child sex changes, according to WAVY. [UPDATE: The hospital announced plans to resume providing sex change services on March 3.]
- Boston Children’s Hospital: A lawsuit alleged that the hospital cancelled appointments for child sex change services in the wake of the executive order.
- Children’s Hospital Colorado: Announced it will no longer provide cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to minors. [UPDATE: Children’s Hospital Colorado announced it will resume providing these services on February 20].
- Seattle Children’s: Reportedly canceled appointments for child sex change surgeries, according to the Seattle Times.
- Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago: Announced it will no longer provide sex change surgeries to children.
- Phoenix Children’s Hospital: Announced it was pausing cross-sex hormone services.
- Penn State Health: Announced in an internal email that “all gender affirming care including hormone prescriptions and surgeries will be halted for children under 19 and no new patients will be accepted.”
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta: Will no longer provide “gender-affirming care” to minors, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Penn Medicine: Will no longer provide child sex change surgical procedures to individuals 18 and under.
- Community Medical Center in Missoula, Montana: Is suspending “gender-affirming care services” for people under the age of 18.
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Will no longer provide so-called “gender-affirming care” to patients under the age of 18.
- Stanford Medicine: Will no longer perform so-called “gender-affirming surgeries” on patients younger than 19, according to the Los Angeles Times.
