RFK Jr. Moves to Ban Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

The Trump administration says it is moving to block gender-affirming care for minors nationwide.

At a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 18, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration intends to eliminate minors’ access to care, including what he described as “pharmaceutical or surgical interventions.” He also warned that hospitals providing such care could face cuts to federal funding.

“So-called gender-affirming care has inflicted lasting physical and psychological harm on vulnerable young people,” Kennedy said. “This is not medicine. This is malpractice.”

According to the agency, hospitals would no longer be permitted to provide gender-affirming care to minors, and facilities that do not comply could lose federal funding. Because most U.S. hospitals participate in Medicare and Medicaid, such a policy would sharply limit where young people could obtain this type of care.

Kennedy also said the administration would no longer classify gender dysmorphia as a disability and would pursue regulations related to physical gender-affirming aids.

He said the Food and Drug Administration would issue warnings to manufacturers of breast binders—items often used by transgender youth to minimize the appearance of breasts—threatening product seizures and “significant regulatory violations” if the products are marketed to children in ways the agency deems “illegal.”

He also accused major medical organizations of misleading the public, claiming the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics “peddled the lie that gender affirming care is beneficial for children.”

Multiple research studies dispute that characterization. A 2023 study found that “gender-affirming medical interventions were associated with lower odds of depression and suicidality.” Another study emphasized that interventions are recommended based on “individual need,” and reported that “surgical intervention positively affected both minors and young adults.”

“We’re done with junk science, driven by ideological pursuits,” Kennedy said.

Critics argued the policy would override parents’ medical decision-making. “The Trump administration is relentless in denying health care to this country, and especially the transgender community. Families deserve the freedom to go to the doctor and get the care that they need and to have agency over the health and wellbeing of their children,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement.

“But these proposed actions would put Donald Trump and RFK Jr. in those doctor’s offices, ripping health care decisions from the hands of families and putting it in the grips of the anti-LGBTQ+ fringe,” Robinson continued. “Make no mistake: these rules aim to completely cut off medically necessary care from children no matter where in this country they live. It’s the Trump Administration dictating who gets their prescription filled and who has their next appointment canceled altogether.”