Trump Order Aims To End Gender-affirming Care For Minors

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the federal government to stop paying for gender-affirming care for people under 19.

The executive order instructs agencies to ensure hospitals and other institutions receiving federal money stop offering gender-affirming care for minors.

The U.S. government “will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” minors’ transitions, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgery, according to the order.

The administration also tells agencies to rescind guidance for care of people with gender dysphoria based on that of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a professional society of people who provide health care to transgender people. Leading medical organizations take WPATH’s guidance into account when creating their own standards of care.

The order tasks HHS with publishing its own review within 90 days on the best practices for caring for minors with gender dysphoria.

The order directs the HHS secretary to “take all appropriate actions” to end gender-affirming care for minors, including through Medicare and Medicaid conditions of participation, clinical abuse rules, drug use reviews and other oversight powers. The order directs the secretary of Defense to begin the process of removing gender-affirming care from TRICARE Coverage.

The order also directs the Department of Justice to “prioritize enforcement of protections against female genital mutilation” and convene state attorneys general with the same goal. Trump also ordered the Justice Department to prioritize investigations into entities that may be misleading patients about side effects of gender-affirming care — and to work with Congress to create rights to help children “whose healthy body parts have been damaged” in gender-affirming care, as well as their parents, to bring civil actions.

Federal employee health insurance should not cover gender-affirming care for minors in the 2026 plan year, according to the order.

The federal government “will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” according to the order.

Agency leaders are directed to submit a report on their progress implementing the order within 60 days.

Gender-affirming care for minors and doctors’ ability to provide it has been widely accepted by major medical institutions, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, through independent reviews.

Even so, critics point to a British government review of the treatments last year by pediatrician Hilary Cass, which questioned the current evidence and urged caution in treating minors.