RFK Jr Announces New Rules To Limit Gender-Affirming Care For Kids
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved Thursday to block Medicare or Medicaid funding from hospitals that provide puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and certain surgeries to patients under 18.
Kennedy also signed a declaration stating that such procedures do not meet professional medical standards. HHS data shows nearly 14,000 minors received such treatments between 2019 and 2023.
By the numbers: Across all ages, nearly three million people in the U.S. identify as transgender. That includes less than 1% of adults, but roughly 3.3% of teens ages 13 to 17.
The policies aim to ban gender-affirming medical care — what Kennedy calls ‘sex-rejecting procedures’ — for minors, including in the 23 states where it remains legal. HHS also moved to reverse a Biden-era policy that treated gender dysphoria as a disability under federal law.
“This is not medicine, it is malpractice,” Kennedy Jr. said. “Sex-rejecting procedures rob children of their futures.”
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Proposed rules will be finalized after a 60-day public comment period. They are expected to face legal challenges.
In Congress: House Republicans passed legislation Wednesday to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors, punishable by a fine or up to 10 years in prison for physicians – though the bill isn’t likely to pass in the Senate. Lawmakers passed another bill Thursday that would block Medicaid coverage for transition-related procedures for anyone under 18.
“Allowing the government to determine which patient groups deserve care sets a dangerous precedent, and children and families will bear the consequences,” Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in response to HHS’s new rules.
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Several Western countries — including New Zealand, Sweden, and the UK — have also moved to restrict or ban puberty blockers and some medical interventions for trans minors, citing limited evidence of their success and potential long-term risks.
Opponents of gender care for kids argue that the rising prevalence of gender dysphoria diagnoses is a sign that the issue may be driven in part by social factors.
A report out of the UK last year found that the long-term scientific evidence on the benefits and risks of the treatment was “remarkably weak.”
Supporters of gender-affirming care for minors often cite small studies showing lower rates of depression and suicidal ideation among youth who receive such care. Popular medical associations also note that health care decisions should be made by physicians and patients, not the government.
The ACLU notes that the Trump administration has focused on attacking “the rights of transgender youth” — from removing trans references from federal websites, halting health data collection, barring trans people from the U.S. military, and suing states over trans athlete participation in school sports.
According to Pew Research, the share of Americans who support policies banning minors from accessing medical care for a gender transition has increased by roughly 10% in recent years.
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Rosenberg’s article comes as attacks motivated by anti-Israel or antisemitic sentiment have spiked globally since the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attacks.
On Sunday, a gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, killing at least 15 people.
In the U.S., two Israeli embassy aides were shot and killed as they were exiting an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in May.
In June, an individual firebombed a peaceful demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, calling for the return of Israeli hostages. One person was killed and 15 injured.
According to the Anti-Defamation League’s State of Antisemitism in America 2024 report, one third of American Jews said they have personally been the victim of antisemitism, whether in-person or online, at least once over the past year.