\n Trump administration health officials announced Thursday that the federal government will block transgender care to children by targeting hospitals and doctors that provide it.\n <\/p>\n
\n New proposed rules would prohibit hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid if they provide care such as puberty blockers and surgeries for transgender minors, and would prevent federal coverage of such treatments.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThese procedures fail to meet professionally recognized standards of care,\u201d US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, calling many types of transgender care \u201cmalpractice.\u201d \u201cMedical professionals or entities providing sex-rejecting procedures to children are out of compliance with these standards of health care.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Medical groups denounced the announcements, saying they intrude on physician-patient relationships and jeopardize care for everyone.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cAllowing the government to determine which patient groups deserve care sets a dangerous precedent, and children and families will bear the consequences,\u201d said Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cPatients, their families, and their physicians \u2013 not politicians or government officials \u2013 should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them. The government\u2019s actions today make that task harder, if not impossible, for families of gender-diverse and transgender youth.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s the latest in a string of actions by President Donald Trump\u2019s administration that target transgender people, including eliminating mention of trans people on federal websites, halting data collection on health issues, removing trans people from the military and suing states that allow trans athletes to play on high school sports teams.\n <\/p>\n
\n Also Thursdsay, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said the agency is sending warning letters to 12 makers and sellers of breast binders who marketed or sold the devices for treatment of gender dysphoria in children.\n <\/p>\n
\n National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya also said the research agency will end support for research into gender transition, saying, \u201cit was junk science to begin with.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n HHS leaders on Thursday cited their own review of evidence and reports from other countries, many of which have faced sharp criticism for drawing sweeping conclusions with little or poor evidence.\n <\/p>\n
\n Health officials said they expect to emphasize psychosocial assessment and support for transgender youth, including \u201ccompassionate, developmentally appropriate counseling.\u201d But they acknowledged that there are a limited number of mental health care providers available.\n <\/p>\n
\n Gender identity care, which is sometimes called gender-affirming care, is a multidisciplinary approach to help a person transition from their assigned gender \u2013 the one a clinician assigned them at birth, based mostly on anatomic characteristics \u2013 to the gender by which they identify. It can include mental health care or age-appropriate medical care such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers, gynecologic and urologic care and reproductive treatments.\n <\/p>\n
\n Major mainstream medical associations \u2013 including the American Medical Association<\/a>, the American Psychiatric Association<\/a>, the Endocrine Society<\/a>, the American Psychological Association<\/a>, the American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a> and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry<\/a> \u2013 have supported such care and agree that it\u2019s the gold standard of clinically appropriate<\/a> care that can provide lifesaving<\/a> treatment for children and adults. Professional medical organizations do not recommend surgery for children as a part of care, and research shows<\/a> that it\u2019s rare among transgender or gender-diverse teens.\n <\/p>\n \n The American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday that it will challenge the administration\u2019s rules in court.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThese gratuitous proposals are cruel and unconstitutional attacks on the rights of transgender youth and their families,\u201d Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU\u2019s LGBTQ and HIV Rights Project, said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n \n Kennedy said Thursday that the administration is confident it\u2019s approach will pass court challenges.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf people sue us, they\u2019re welcome to,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n