<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US Department of Health and Human Services has unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/health" rel="" target="_blank" title="care"><span>care</span></a><span> for minors, building on broader </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="Trump"><span>Trump</span></a><span> administration restrictions on transgender Americans.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The sweeping proposals — the most significant moves </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/ncaa-changes-transgender-policy-to-limit-womens-competition-to-athletes-assigned-female-at-birth/4e48e80b-26bc-4ae9-8703-f039fd113918" rel="" target="_blank" title="this administration has taken"><span>this administration has taken</span></a><span> so far to restrict the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical interventions for transgender children — include cutting off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children and prohibiting federal Medicaid dollars from being used to fund such procedures.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“This is not medicine, it is malpractice,” Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr said of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/world-news-donald-trumps-health-agency-urges-therapy-for-transgender-youth/acfa7627-7ce9-41e6-bf30-a4472845e1c0" rel="" target="_blank" title="gender-affirming procedures on children"><span>gender-affirming procedures on children</span></a><span> in a news conference on Thursday (Friday AEST).</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bondi-beach-shooting-investigations-continue-into-terrorist-father-and-son-phillipines-trip/44fb98ca-1bb0-484d-b790-5b895d7a633a" rel="" target="_blank" title="New details emerge about Sajid and Naveed Akram's Philippines trip"><strong><span>New details emerge about Sajid and Naveed Akram's Philippines trip</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“Sex-rejecting procedures rob children of their futures.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The announcements would imperil access in nearly two dozen states where drug treatments and surgical procedures remain legal and funded by Medicaid, which includes federal and state dollars.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The proposals run counter to the recommendations of most major US medical organisations. And advocates for transgender children strongly refuted the administration’s claims about gender-affirming care and said Thursday’s moves would put lives at risk.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-transgender-gender-affirming-car-banned/9e1f7ccb-e24b-49d0-8b3f-d6cd4ea71ae3" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“The multitude of efforts we are seeing from federal legislators to strip transgender and nonbinary youth of the health care they need is deeply troubling,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, of The Trevor Project, a non-profit suicide prevention organization for LBGTQ+ youth, who called the changes a “one-size-fits-all mandate from the federal government” on a decision that should be between a doctor and patient.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Proposed rules would threaten youth gender-affirming care in states where it remains legal</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Medicaid programs in slightly less than half of states currently cover gender-affirming care. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At least 27 states have adopted laws restricting or banning the care. The Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding Tennessee’s ban means most other state laws are likely to remain in place.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/lamar-ahchee-sentencing-indonesian-court-australian-man-12-years-in-prison-for-smuggling-cocaine-to-bali/b1a74562-3960-4812-969f-156877ba527d" rel="" target="_blank" title="Indonesian court sentences an Australian to 12 years in prison for smuggling cocaine to Bali"><strong><span>Indonesian court sentences an Australian to 12 years in prison for smuggling cocaine to Bali</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The proposals announced by Kennedy and his deputies are not final or legally binding. The federal government must go through a lengthy rulemaking process, including periods of public comment and document rewrites, before the restrictions becoming permanent. They are also likely to face legal challenges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the proposed rules will likely further intimidate health care providers from offering gender-affirming care to children and many hospitals have already ceased such care in anticipation of federal action.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nearly all US hospitals participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the federal government's largest health plans that cover seniors, people with disabilities and low-income Americans. Losing access to those payments would imperil most U.S. hospitals and medical providers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The same funding restrictions would apply to a smaller health program, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, when it comes to care for people under the age of 19, according to a federal notice posted on Thursday morning.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kennedy also announced that the HHS Office of Civil Rights would propose a rule excluding gender dysphoria from the definition of a disability.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a related move, the Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to a dozen companies that market chest-binding vests and other equipment used by people with gender dysphoria.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Manufacturers include GenderBender LLC of Carson, California and TomboyX of Seattle. The FDA letters state that chest binders can only be legally marketed for FDA-approved medical uses, such as recovery after mastectomy surgery.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>Moves contradict advice from medical organisations and transgender advocates</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dr Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on Thursday called transgender treatments “a Band-Aid on a much deeper pathology,” and suggested children with gender dysphoria are “confused, lost and need help.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Polling shows many Americans agree with the administration’s view of the issue. An Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research survey conducted in May found that about half of US adults approved of how Trump was handling transgender issues.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chloe Cole, a conservative activist known for speaking about her gender-transition reversal, spoke at the news conference to express appreciation. She said cries for help from her and others in her situation “have finally been heard".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the approach contradicts the recommendations of most major US medical organisations, including the American Medical Association, which has urged states not to restrict care for gender dysphoria.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“In an effort to strongarm hospitals into participating in the administration’s anti-LGBTQ agenda, the Trump Administration is forcing health care systems to choose between providing lifesaving care for LGBTQ+ young people and accepting crucial federal funding,” Dr. Jamila Perritt, a Washington-based OB/GYN and president and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health, said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“This is a lose-lose situation where lives are inevitably on the line. “</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>Actions build on a larger effort to restrict transgender rights</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The announcements build on a wave of actions President Donald Trump, his administration and Republicans in Congress have taken to target the rights of transgender people nationwide.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order that declared the federal government would recognise only two immutable sexes: male and female. He also has signed orders aimed at cutting off federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19 and barring transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Wednesday, a bill that would open transgender health care providers to prison time if they treat people under the age of 18 passed the US House and heads to the Senate. Another bill under consideration in the House on Thursday aims to ban Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Young people who persistently identify as a gender that differs from their sex assigned at birth are first evaluated by a team of professionals. Some may try a social transition, involving changing a hairstyle or pronouns. Some may later also receive hormone-blocking drugs that delay puberty, followed by testosterone or estrogen to bring about the desired physical changes in patients. Surgery is rare for minors.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/Z8tJCf"><strong><span>Sign up here</span></strong></a><strong><span> to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.</span></strong></div></div>