New York Attorney General Letitia James warned hospitals on Monday that ceasing to offer gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 19 in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order could violate state law. In her letter to healthcare facilities, James, a Democrat, emphasized that denying these treatments would breach New York’s anti-discrimination statutes. Despite the President’s directive aimed at restricting federal funding for such procedures, James reiterated the importance of complying with state regulations.
Trump’s recent executive order instructed agencies to ensure that hospitals receiving federal grants for research and education do not support what he termed as “chemical and surgical mutilation of children.” This language, which includes terms like “maiming” and “mutilation,” deviates from the usual terminology associated with gender-affirming care in the U.S. Concurrently, some hospitals in Colorado, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. announced a temporary halt to gender-affirming treatments for youths as they assess the implications of the order.
A spokesperson for the Greater New York Hospital Association stated that they are actively engaging with member hospitals to address the executive order on gender-affirming care. The organization is meticulously examining the legal and clinical ramifications of the directive. Gender-affirming medical interventions for transgender youth remain a contentious issue amidst political debates, with a recent study showing that a very small percentage of adolescents in the U.S. with commercial insurance have received puberty blockers or hormones over a five-year period.
