#gender-affirming-care

#gender-affirming-care

Administration health officials praised a statement released Tuesday by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) that advises against conducting "gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery" on people under the age of 19, even though such procedures are rarely conducted on minors. The ASPS based its statement on two recent reports from the U.K. and the U.S. that were widely criticized by transgender healthcare advocates as being biased.

The funding - supporting hospital clinics, HIV/AIDS programs, educational institutions, and more - would be conditioned on sweeping new restrictions barring "social transition" and gender-affirming care at any age, including therapy and counseling. While the administration has already frozen large portions of foreign aid, this rule would formalize those efforts and dramatically expand their reach, with potentially severe consequences for transgender people worldwide as the administration escalates its campaign against transgender lives both at home and abroad.

The bills are strikingly clean,

"Taken together, these developments affect our role and responsibilities as a provider participating in federal programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which are essential to caring for children and families in our communities," Rady said, confirming that its decision also pertains to operations in Orange County.

A gay couple in Washington, D.C. is stuck in limbo after ICE detained one husband, a Panamanian immigrant, during what had long been treated as a routine immigration check-in. Plus, Renee Good's family has retained the same law firm as George Floyd's to launch a civil investigation into her killing, and Rep. Robin Kelly has filed articles of impeachment against Kristi Noem, saying she's led a "reign of terror."

"This is not a case about whether AAP or HHS is right or even has the better position on vaccinations and gender-affirming care for children, or any other public health policy," Howell wrote in her decision. "This is a case about whether the federal government has exercised power in a manner designed to chill public health policy debate by retaliating against a leading and generally trusted pediatrician member professional organization focused on improving the health of children," the judge continued.

Research set to be published in the Journal of Paediatric's February volume has once again proved that trans adolescents show "meaningful reductions" in depression and anxiety after beginning clinically-endorsed hormone therapy. Co-written by paediatricians in Nevada, Texas, and Missouri, the study examined the wellbeing of 432 patients before and after undergoing treatment. The participants, aged 12 to 20, were surveyed on their mental health before and at least 364 days after beginning appropriate medical treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Related: Federal HR office sets deadline for government-wide purge of transgender and nonbinary inclusion OPM sent a letter to insurance carriers last year saying that as of 2026, "chemical and surgical modification of an individual's sex traits through medical interventions (to include 'gender transition"' services) will no longer be covered under the FEHB or PSHB Programs. There is a narrow exception for people who are mid-treatment.

Last August, the administration notified the insurance companies covering federal workers and their families that as of Jan. 1, 2026 it would no longer cover "chemical and surgical modification of an individual's sex traits through medical interventions." However, the administration did say it would pay for counseling, include by "those who provide faith-based counseling."

➡️ NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani isn't letting Elon Musk slander his nominee for commissioner of the Fire Department of New York as she makes history as the first gay person chosen for the role. Meanwhile, gay MAGA Republican Richard Grenell is throwing a fit over a musician cancelling his Christmas Eve performance after Trump renamed the Kennedy Center after himself, and a hospital in Seattle is RFK Jr's latest target over gender-affirming care.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has identified his first target following his declaration earlier this month to cut off Medicaid and Medicare funding to any hospital that provides health care to trans youth. Last Friday in a social media post, HHS announced that it was referring Seattle Children's Hospital for investigation for providing gender-affirming care to trans youth. Of course, Kennedy's declaration was simply that-a declaration with no basis in science.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oregon, claims that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. exceeded his authority with the Dec. 18 declaration, which would "effectively ban, by fiat, an entire caregory of healthcare." It also failed to follow proper procedures for promulgating new rules, would interfere with states' rights to run their Medicaid programs and regulate health care and deny care to youth that need it.

“taxpayer funding of sex rejecting procedures for children in Medicaid and CHIP [children's health insurance program], full stop”

Politics Thursday's announcements would imperil access in nearly two dozen states where drug treatments and surgical procedures remain legal and funded by Medicaid, which includes federal and state dollars. WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions on transgender Americans.

would make it a Class C federal felony for doctors to follow the standards of care for gender dysphoria in trans youth, including prescribing any puberty blockers or hormones. It would also ban federal funds - including Medicaid funds - from being used for gender-affirming care for trans people, ban medical schools from teaching about such care, stop health care plans under the Affordable Care Act from funding the care,