The Trump administration is preparing to cut off federal funding for hospitals that provide “gender transition” procedures to minors, according to an exclusive report from National Review.
The outlet reported that an administration official said the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is in “the final stage of review for a new rule that would make it a condition of hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid that they not provide sex trait modifications to minors.”
The rule would prohibit puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender-transition surgeries for children.
According to the report, the administration has already begun auditing hospitals that still offer these procedures to minors and receive federal money.
“We are actively combing through all federal grants that go to the hospitals that still provide these procedures (surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers) to kids,” an administration official told National Review, “and sorting through what funding could be cut without jeopardizing the health and safety of other patients and critical research needs.”
The White House is also investigating whether some facilities failed to obtain informed consent from minors before beginning these procedures, the outlet reported.
An administration official cited testimony from individuals who detransitioned and said they were “misled” and not given an “opportunity to give informed consent,” National Review reported.
The move follows a 400-page HHS report released in May that concluded there is “very weak evidence” that such procedures benefit children and flagged serious risks, including infertility.
An unpublished report from 2024 similarly found no evidence that puberty blockers improve children’s mental health. As CatholicVote previously reported, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a prominent pro-“transgender” doctor, refused to publish the federally funded study after reaching that conclusion. She later told The New York Times she feared the results would be “weaponized.”
In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at “protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation.” He called transgenderism a “dangerous trend” that “will be a stain to our Nation’s history.”
Since the order, several hospitals — including those in blue states — have paused child “gender” programs. Most notably, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, home to the country’s largest child “transgender” clinic, is set to shut its “Transyouth” program on July 22.