Trump rejects US funding of gender-transition procedures for minors

The US government’s Medicaid program will no longer cover gender-transition surgeries and hormone treatments for minors, US President Donald Trump said.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump argued that the move is aimed at preventing children from undergoing what he described as “barbaric surgeries and practices,” Caliber.Az reports.

“We are not going to pay for our innocent children to undergo these barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies. Thanks to our strong position and pressure on this issue over the past year and a half, dozens of U.S. hospitals have already ended this so-called ‘gender-affirming care,’ and we expect many more to follow. 

Just think about all of the young, innocent, and perhaps confused children who will be spared!” the American leader noted.

According to a statement from the Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the ban applies to puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgical procedures. The regulation will take effect on October 13.

The Hill, citing a 2024 study published in the JAMA Network, noted that less than 1% of transgender adolescents in the United States have undergone any gender-transition-related surgery. Such procedures are most commonly performed on boys with hormonal disorders during puberty.

By Jeyhun Aghazada