Donald Trump seems to think that he can use executive orders to make edicts. That's not his job. He isn't king. However, he seems to think he is and he's willing to hurt kids to prove it.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19, his latest move to roll back protections for transgender people across the country.
“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 or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,”
. . . Medicaid programs in some states cover gender-affirming care. The new order suggests that practice could end and target hospitals and universities that receive federal money and provide the care. The language in the executive order — using words such as “maiming,” “sterilizing” and “mutilation” — contradicts what is typical for gender-affirming care in the United States. It also labels guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health as “junk science.” Major medical groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support access to the care.
From Axios:
The latest executive order applies to people under 19, categorizing 18 year olds with children.
What's next: Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Service to publish a review of existing literature on best practices for promoting the health of children with gender dysphoria within 90 days. The department was also directed to regulate programs like Medicare or Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, essential health benefit requirements and federally funded manuals of diseases and disorders. The head of each executive department or agency that provides research or education grants was ordered to take steps to ensure that institutions receiving funding end gender-affirming care. The order also calls for removing federal funding from medical schools and hospitals that research gender-affirming care.
Catch up quick: On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order that the federal government would only recognize two sexes, male and female. He's since called on the Pentagon to formulate a new policy that would target transgender service members.
Trump believes that his war on the trans community was one of the reasons why he won last November, so he intends to continue it. And he is embracing the lies told about how gender-affirming care for trans kids is "mutilation." This link tells the truth about what it entails.
According to National Public Radio. a study showed that a very small number of children receive gender-affirming care:
"It's important to put numbers to the debates that are currently happening," says Landon Hughes, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. "There weren't any peer reviewed studies that were looking at the rate of hormone use and puberty blocker use among youth in the U.S., and so we wanted to fill that void."
Hughes and colleagues at Harvard and Folx Health, a virtual LGBTQ health care company, used a data set of private insurance claims from 2018-2022 that included more than 5 million adolescents. "The total number of youth who had any diagnosis of gender dysphoria was less than 18,000," Hughes explains.
"Among those folks, there were less than 1,000 [youth] that accessed puberty blockers and less than 2,000 that ever had access to hormones." In other words, the study found that less than 0.1% of teenagers with private insurance in the U.S. are transgender and receive gender-related medicines.
Axios also points out that:
Drugs like puberty blockers are temporary and reversible and used for both trans and non-trans youth who experience early onset puberty.
Between the lines: Fewer than 0.1% of adolescents received drugs for gender-affirming care between 2018 and 2022, per a study led by Harvard University researchers published this month. No patient under 12 years old who were transgender or gender diverse received hormones, the study found.
Zoom out: The Supreme Court, meanwhile, seems likely to uphold a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth following oral arguments last month. Since the first legislative ban on youth gender-affirming care was passed in 2021, such legislation has taken effect in 26 states, per the Human Rights Campaign.
Regardless of what stereotypes Trump exploits to wreak havoc, gender-affirming care for trans kids is vital for their health and survival He should not barter the health of these children to appease the ignorance of his supporters. His position as president does not give him the power to interfere with or make private medical decisions against the wishes of families, no matter what subtle tactics he chooses to employ. It is the government's responsibility to provide adequate healthcare for its citizen. It is a right which should never be snatched away, especially through the edict of a power-hungry orange jackass who some people mistakenly put in the White House.
According to the Human Rights Campaign:
Conversely, bans on access to gender-affirming health care for youth can have devastating consequences. These laws interfere with the ability of transgender youth, their families, and their providers, to make the health care decisions that are right for them, and access the medical care they need.
No parent should ever be put in the position where they and their doctor agree on one course of action, supported by the overwhelming majority of medical experts, but the government forbids it. But that’s exactly what these health care bans do.
The simple existence of legislation to ban gender-affirming care can also have substantial negative consequences. Researchers and pollsters have consistently found that LGBTQ+ youth report worsening mental health, and increased anxiety and fear, as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, with effects substantially worse for transgender and non-binary youth. Even among LGBTQ+ adults, who to date have largely not seen the same level of legislative attacks on their health care, this legislation is wreaking a toll.
