The Trump administration on Dec. 18 took its most aggressive federal action yet against “transgender” medical interventions for minors, with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announcing six regulatory and administrative moves aimed at ending what he called “sex-rejecting procedures” for children.

The actions target hospitals, federal health programs, drug manufacturers, and research funding tied to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and related interventions often termed “gender-affirming care.”

Speaking at a press conference at HHS headquarters, Kennedy accused parts of the medical establishment of abandoning basic ethical standards in favor of ideology.

“Doctors assume a solemn obligation to protect children, yet doctors across the country now provide needless and irreversible sex-rejecting procedures that violate their sacred Hippocratic oath, endangering the very lives that they are sworn to safeguard,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the interventions cause permanent physical and psychological harm and lack sufficient evidence to justify their use on minors.

“This is not medicine; it is malpractice,” Kennedy said. “We’re done with junk science.” 

The six actions — outlined in a report by the Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil — focus on federal funding, hospital participation, and regulatory guidance: 

1. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will release a proposed rule to bar hospitals that perform sex-rejecting procedures on minors from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs, affecting nearly all U.S. hospitals.

2. CMS will also propose a separate rule prohibiting Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds from covering such procedures for those under 18 (or 19 for CHIP).

3. Kennedy signed a declaration stating that sex-rejecting procedures “do not meet professionally recognized standards of health care,” a move that could expose providers to legal or professional consequences.

4. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will issue warning letters to 12 manufacturers of breast binders, instructing them not to market the devices to children as treatment for gender dysphoria. The devices are designed for women recovering from breast cancer surgery.

5. The HHS Office of Civil Rights will propose a rule to reverse Biden-era guidance that sought to classify gender dysphoria as a disability under federal law.

6. The National Institutes of Health has ended grants that support “transgender” medical research or interventions involving minors.

In an HHS press release, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the proposed rules are intended to clarify that hospitals receiving federal funds cannot conduct what he described as unproven and risky procedures on children. 

“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions performed on them, that carry life-altering risks with no reliable evidence of benefit,” he said, later adding, “CMS will ensure that federal program standards reflect our responsibility to promote the health and safety of children.”

The announcement drew praise from Catholic leaders. Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, thanked Kennedy in an X post, saying interventions that “result in the mutilation of our young people” are “neither compassionate nor respectful.” 

“The Catholic Church agrees with Secretary Kennedy that these procedures result in irreparable physical harm and typically increase the psychological distress of those who undergo them,” Bishop Barron said.

The announcement follows the November release of a peer-reviewed HHS report, titled “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices,” which examined medical outcomes tied to attempts to alter a child’s sex. According to claims data cited in the report, nearly 14,000 minors received such procedures between 2019 and 2023.

HHS said the Dec. 18 actions are intended to carry out President Donald Trump’s January order directing the agency to take all “appropriate actions” to halt so-called “gender-affirming care” from being practiced on children.