Key points
- Medicaid in some states cover gender-affirming care
- Order to affect Medicaid programmes
- Transgenders, families lament curbs
ISLAMABAD: United States (US) President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to restrict gender transition procedures for people under the age of 19.
“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilising a growing number of impressionable children,” said the order.
“This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
“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 order says.
This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.” – US presidential order
According to AFP, the order directs that federally-run insurance programmes, including TRICARE for military families and Medicaid, exclude coverage for such care and calls on the Department of Justice to vigorously pursue litigation and legislation to oppose the practice.
No Medicaid
According to AP, Medicaid programmes in some states cover gender-affirming care. The new order suggests that the practice could end, and targets hospitals and universities that receive federal money and provide the care.
According to USA Today, Trump ordered the government to revoke the Biden administration’s guidance on gender-affirming care and told his Health and Human Services Department to issue an assessment on best practices for promoting the health of children seeking transgender care within 90 days.
He said the only health plans in 2026 that should be available for federal workers are the ones that meet the new specifications and directed his administration to work with Congress to pass legislation allowing children and the parents of children who have received gender-affirming care to take legal action, the publication reported.