White House bans federal funding, support for promotion of child gender transition

Washington, DC: Citing worries about the long-term effects of medical treatments meant to change a child’s sex, the White House has issued an executive order banning government financing, support, or advocacy of such surgeries.

Under the “radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” doctors are “chemically and surgically mutilating” youngsters, according to the ruling.

According to the government, these operations are risky and might leave impacted youngsters permanently sterilized and with long-term health issues.

According to the decree, “Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding.” According to the statement, the federal government would do all within its power to “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

According to the order, “chemical and surgical mutilation” includes hormone treatments, puberty blockers, and surgeries intended to match a child’s physical attributes with a gender identity distinct from their biological sex, and “child” refers to any person under the age of 19. Additionally, according to the order, these therapies are frequently called “gender-affirming care.”

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines are criticized in the order, which aims to address concerns about what it refers to as “junk science,” claiming that the organization “lacks scientific integrity.” Federal agencies are instructed to repeal or modify any policies that depend on WPATH’s recommendations, including its “Standards of Care Version 8.” Additionally, within 90 days, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) must publish an assessment of the body of research on the best approaches for kids with identity-based confusion, rapid-onset gender dysphoria, or gender dysphoria. HHS is required by the order to increase data collection on minors seeking medical transition treatments using all available means.

Additionally, the presidential order mandates that government financing for organizations that perform gender-transition treatments be discontinued. It reads, “The head of each executive department or agency (agency) that provides research or education grants to medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals, shall, consistent with applicable law and in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving federal research or education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”

With regard to Medicaid, Medicare conditions of participation, clinical-abuse assessments, mandatory drug reviews, and essential health benefit requirements, the Secretary of HHS is instructed to take “all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children,” which may include modifying existing regulations. HHS’s March 2, 2022, guideline, “HHS Notice and Guidance on Gender Affirming Care, Civil Rights and Patient Privacy,” must also be immediately withdrawn, according to the court. The job of safeguarding whistleblowers who reveal violations of the presidential order falls to the attorney general.

The guidelines for the Department of Defense concerning TRICARE, the military’s health insurance program that covers about 2 million people under the age of 18, are part of the order. The Secretary of Defense has been directed to “commence a rulemaking or sub-regulatory action to exclude chemical and surgical mutilation of children from TRICARE coverage and amend the TRICARE provider handbook to exclude chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”

Additionally, it requires modifications to government employee health insurance systems. It is the responsibility of the Office of Personnel Management to make sure that pediatric transgender operations and hormone treatments are not covered under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) programs. Additionally, it urges that measures be taken to “obtain appropriate corresponding reductions in FEHB and PSHB premiums.”

Additionally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been instructed to give enforcement of gender-transition processes first priority. The Attorney General is directed by the order to “prioritize enforcement of protections against female genital mutilation and review Department of Justice enforcement of section 116 of title 18, United States Code.” Furthermore, the DOJ is instructed to prosecute “any entity that may be misleading the public about long-term side effects of chemical and surgical mutilation through deception of consumers, fraud, and violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”

Additionally, the Attorney General is directed to collaborate with Congress in order to prepare legislation that would provide adolescents who undergo gender-transition treatments a private right of action. An extended statute of limitations would be a feature of this proposed law, enabling those who have received these treatments to pursue legal action. The DOJ is also charged with looking into “child-abusive practices by so-called sanctuary states that facilitate stripping custody from parents who support the healthy development of their own children,” which includes looking into possible ways the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act may be used.

The directive requires agency heads to provide a joint status report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy within 60 days in order to guarantee compliance. In order to evaluate implementation efforts and set deadlines for next actions, the Assistant will arrange frequent meetings with agency heads.

Additionally, the order has a severability clause, which guarantees that the remaining clauses would remain unaffected in the event that any of them are deemed illegal. It makes clear that it does not establish new legal rights that may be used against the government or its representatives and emphasizes that implementation must be in line with current laws and appropriations.