N.Y. Hospital Stops Treating 2 Children After Trump’s Trans Care Order

“A leading New York City hospital system has begun canceling appointments for transgender children following President Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatments, according to the children’s parents.

“The hospital system, NYU Langone Health, has not made any public announcements. But word spread among parents of trans children after the hospital canceled appointments for two 12-year-olds who had been scheduled to receive implants that dispense puberty-blocking medication.”

“A spokesman for NYU Langone Health, Steve Ritea, declined to comment, saying he did not have any information he could share. “

“Hospitals in New York City have been consulting with their lawyers to understand what this order means for their programs that provide medical care to trans children, according to officials at two hospital systems who declined to be quoted for this article.”

“One threatened consequence for hospitals and medical schools is the loss of significant federal research funding. The federal government provides research funds to major medical institutions.”

“There is also the threat of prosecution and lawsuits. The order specifically directs the Justice Department to examine whether a federal law against female genital mutilation can be applied to some gender-affirming surgeries. That law was passed with another goal in mind: to outlaw the cutting of the clitoris or labia among girls of immigrant families in the United States.”

“At one clinic that provides gender-affirming care to trans youth, a doctor has been telling his patients that he will continue to provide them with puberty blockers and hormone therapy, even if it means prosecution.

“‘I’m willing to go to jail to continue to provide your care,’ Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum said he had been telling his young trans patients and their parents since the executive order. A pediatrician at the state-run University Hospital of Brooklyn, Dr. Birnbaum said he saw roughly 75 trans patients, including many teenagers.”

“The mother of the second 12-year-old whose procedure at NYU Langone was canceled said that her child, who identifies as nonbinary, had begun puberty last year and that it had caused her child distress. The child had previously received an injection of puberty blockers, but had been scheduled to get an implant that would last for a year.

“The mother said she was devastated that her child’s medical care was canceled over fear of retribution by the government. She and her family had been calling other hospitals and doctors in the hope of finding one that might treat the child. ‘I don’t think we have a lot of options,’ the mother said.”