Trump's gender-affirming care EO creates legal gray area for some hospitals
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Chicago's largest children's hospital is pausing gender-affirming surgeries for minors after President Trump's executive order called for an end to surgeries and chemical interventions for transgender people under the age of 19.
Why it matters: Lurie Children's Hospital is the largest pediatric safety-net hospital in Illinois, and not fully complying with the executive order could threaten the hospital's heavy reliance on federal funding.
- Lurie has been considered a leader in gender-affirming care with its Gender Development Program, which started in 2013.
- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul hasn't threatened legal action and has vowed to protect transgender people in the state.
Driving the news: Lurie announced the policy change Friday.
- "As part of our comprehensive review of the Executive Order, we have made the difficult decision to pause gender care surgeries within the gender care program for all patients under the age of 19 as we work to understand the rapidly evolving environment," the hospital said in a statement.
- But the hospital said it will continue to provide puberty blockers, hormones, and mental health services for current and new youth patients.
What they're saying: "The executive orders we have seen lately are not themselves legally binding. They don't change the underlying federal law that has been held to be inclusive of trans folks and nonbinary persons and intersex persons. It doesn't, on its own, do that," Northwestern law professor Kara Ingelhart tells Axios.
Reality check: The number of minors undergoing gender-affirming surgeries is much lower than the number of adults undergoing the surgeries. A Harvard study released last year found that the number of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adults who received surgical care was 5.3 per 100,000 individuals, while the rate for minors was:
- 2.1 per 100,000 for those aged 15 to 17 years
- 0.1 per 100,000 aged 13 to 14 years
- 0 procedures for those aged 12 years or younger
Zoom out: Ingelhart says to watch how the courts respond to a lawsuit in Maryland filed by the ACLU, PFLAG and other groups against the Trump administration over the order.
- The lawsuit includes an Illinois mother who said her son's surgery was canceled by UI Health after the Trump administration issued the order, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Zoom in: Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law in 2023 that protects gender-affirming care and individuals who come to Illinois seeking that care, a commitment Raoul reiterated last week.
- "Federal funding to institutions that provide gender-affirming care continues to be available, irrespective of President Trump's recent executive order. If the federal administration takes additional action to impede this critical funding, we will not hesitate to take further legal action," Raoul said in a statement.
Yes, but: It's unclear what, if any, legal action Raoul could take in response to Lurie's decision to pause surgical care for minors. The AG's office declined to comment to Axios about Lurie's decision.
What we're watching: Lurie says at this time, it continues to provide gender-affirming care for minors except for surgeries for current and new patients, even though Trump's order also calls for an end to chemical interventions.