Trump signs order aiming to limit gender transitions for minors
WASHINGTON - Signing a new executive order, President Donald Trump on Tuesday aims to curtail gender transitions for people under age 19.
What is in the executive order:
The order directs that federally-run insurance programs, 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.
"Across the country today, medical professionals 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," the order read. "This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end."
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Medicaid programs in some states cover gender-affirming care. The new order suggests that practice could end and target hospitals and universities that receive federal money and provide the care.
What they're saying:
"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," Trump said in a statement.
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What's next:
The order is likely to be challenged in court.
Big picture view:
It’s the latest push by Trump to reverse policies set by the Biden administration to protect transgender people and their care. On Monday, Trump directed the Pentagon to conduct a review that is likely to lead to them being barred from military service.
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Hours after taking office last week, Trump signed another order that seeks to define sex as only male or female, not recognizing transgender, nonbinary or intersex people or the idea that gender can be fluid. Already that's resulted in the State Department halting issuing passports with an "X" gender markers, forcing transgender people to apply for travel documents with markers that don't match their identities.
Why you should care:
Even as transgender people have gained visibility and acceptance in some fronts, they've become major targets for social conservatives. In recent years, at least 26 states have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. And most of those states face lawsuits, including one over Tennessee's ban that's pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Republican-controlled states have also moved to keep transgender women and girls from competing in women's or girls sports and to dictate which bathrooms transgender people can use, particularly in schools.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story also came from an official statement made by President Donald Trump, outlining the details of his executive order on restricting gender transitions for individuals under 19. This story was reported from Los Angeles.