Health
The newly proposed actions could mean an end to federal funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children.
By Darin Zullo
2 minutes to read
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Attorney General Andrea Campbell is pushing back on newly proposed actions from the Trump administration that would cut gender-affirming care for minors.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled a series of proposals Thursday that would increase restrictions on care for transgender Americans, including puberty blockers, surgeries, and hormone therapy. Beyond these regulations, HHS said it would cut off federal Medicaid funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to transgender children aged 18 and under.
In a statement Thursday, Campbell harshly criticized the proposed rules, which would also exclude people with gender identity disorders from certain discrimination protections surrounding HHS-funded programs.
“Medically necessary health care for transgender youth saves lives and is essential to their emotional and physical wellbeing,” Campbell said in the statement. “While these proposed rules cruelly target our trans community, they will put millions of Americans’ health care at risk by forcing hospitals and medical providers to choose between receiving Medicaid and Medicare funding or abandoning their adolescent transgender patients.”
The regulations are not yet legally binding, and the federal government is likely to be met with legal challenges, rewrites, and feedback from public comment periods. However, they have the potential to intimidate health care providers and discourage legal gender-affirming care.
Medicaid programs cover the care in less than half of states, but Massachusetts is one of them. Campbell’s office noted that if passed, the laws will conflict with statewide discrimination laws.
“Massachusetts law bars discrimination against transgender patients in health care, including in health insurance,” Campbell’s office said in the statement. “AG Campbell will strongly oppose the newly proposed rules during the designated comment period and is prepared to take further action should any unlawful rule be finalized.”
Aside from Medicaid and Medicare restrictions, the proposals would also apply to the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which has its own self-contained programs separate from Medicaid. Since the start of the Trump administration, Campbell has joined several lawsuits challenging its enforcement efforts toward transgender youth and gender-affirming care.
In August, Campbell co-led a lawsuit targeting federal threats to criminally prosecute health care providers for transgender individuals under age 19, including in Massachusetts. Another lawsuit in September saw a coalition of 17 attorneys general, including Campbell, challenging HHS’s efforts to pull funding for teen reproductive and sexual health education programs in states that kept language affirming transgender and nonbinary identities.
Campbell most recently challenged the federal government in an October amicus brief opposing attempts to subpoena gender-affirming care records at Boston Children’s Hospital.
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