Donald Trump signs executive order restricting gender-affirming care for trans youth under 19

In the latest in President Donald Trump’s raft of executive orders, he has signed another order restricting gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth under 19. 

After the US State Department stopped all applications for passports with “X” markers last week, Trump signed a new anti-trans executive order on Tuesday (28 January) restricting trans healthcare. The order is titled “Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation”. 

“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the executive order reads.

The order will apply to individuals under 19 years of age and appears to restrict the use and prescription of life-saving gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers, “including GnRH agonists and other interventions”, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) including estrogen and testosterone, and gender-affirming surgery. 

It also falsely claims that doctors are “maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions”. A 2024 review of puberty blockers found that they are “reversible”.

The order also states that federally-run insurance programs, including Medicaid and Tricare for military families, will exclude coverage for gender-affirming care and asks that the Department of Justice pursue litigation and legislation to oppose the practice.

It’s important to note that gender-affirming care bans pose significant psychological harm to trans and non-binary individuals, and can increase the risk of suicide and self-harm, as per the American Psychological Association. 

The organisation’s president, Cynthia de las Fuentes, said in a 2024 statement on the findings: “It sends a clear message that state bans on gender-affirming care disregard the comprehensive body of medical and psychological research supporting the positive impact of such treatments in alleviating psychological distress and improving overall well-being for transgender, gender diverse and non-binary individuals.”

A 2024 study also found that trans youth rarely regret undergoing gender-affirming care. Meanwhile, a 2022 study by the Stanford University School of Medicine also found that positive mental health outcomes were higher for trans folk who were able to access gender-affirming care as teenagers, rather than in their adult years. 

If this story has affected you, call the Trans Lifeline Hotline to speak to a trans/nonbinary peer operator with full anonymity and confidentiality at (877) 565-8860. Support is available Monday-Friday 10 AM – 6 PM Pacific, 11 AM – 7 PM Mountain, 12 PM – 8 PM Central, 1 PM – 9 PM Eastern.