A new policy in the US is set to restrict access to gender-affirming medical treatments for minors, with President Donald Trump signing an executive order on Tuesday. The decree, titled “Protection of Minors from Medical Inhumations” aims to limit minors’ access to gender-affirming medical treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical interventions.
The order prohibits the use of federal funds to finance such treatments for minors, defined as individuals under the age of 19. It also requires hospitals and universities that receive federal funding to cease providing these services.
All federal agencies are instructed to withdraw the guidelines of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), a global organization that serves as a medical standard for the care of transgender individuals.
Trump cited the increasing number of minors who regret undergoing these treatments and often face lifelong medical complications. He claimed that doctors are “sterilizing and mutilating” children, citing the irreversible nature of these medical interventions.
The decree also announces Trump’s intention to work with Congress to pass a law allowing children and their parents to sue doctors who perform gender-affirming surgeries.
This is not the first time Trump has made a move to restrict the rights of transgender individuals. In the presidential campaign, he promised to stop the expansion of transgender rights. Twenty-six US states have already passed laws restricting such treatments, despite studies showing that only a small percentage of minors actually undergo these procedures.
Critics, including transgender rights groups and medical organizations, condemn the decree, arguing that these medical treatments help protect young people from depression and suicide.