A young child holds a pair of trans pride flags at a noon gathering on the steps of the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, as they protest House Bill 1125, which bans gender-affirming care for trans children, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
NYU Hospital, Leader in Youth Transgender Care, Cancels Appointments Due to Trump’s Executive Order
Edited by: TJVNews.com
A major New York City hospital system has quietly begun canceling medical appointments for transgender children, following a sweeping executive order from President Donald Trump that threatens to withhold federal funding from hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors. The New York Times reported on Saturday that according to concerned parents, NYU Langone Health has already canceled critical medical procedures for at least two transgender children who had been scheduled to receive puberty-blocking medication.
Despite the significant impact of these cancellations, NYU Langone Health has not made any public announcements regarding the changes to its transgender healthcare services. However, word quickly spread among parents of trans youth after families were informed that their children’s appointments had been abruptly canceled—one day after the executive order was issued.
The father of one of the affected children said that his 12-year-old was due to receive an implant of Supprelin LA, a puberty-blocking medication that delays the onset of puberty in transgender adolescents. However, the information in The New York Times report indicated that a doctor at NYU Langone informed him that due to “the new administration”—a reference to Trump’s executive order—the hospital would not be able to proceed with the procedure. The doctor recommended that the family seek care at another hospital in New York City or a facility in Philadelphia that may still be offering the treatment.
A second family received similar news. The mother of another 12-year-old patient said she was informed that her child’s appointment for the same puberty-blocking procedure had been canceled on Wednesday, January 31—just one day after the executive order was signed, as was reported in The New York Times. When she asked for an explanation, she was told that the medical team was “awaiting more guidance” before proceeding with any further care.
Despite multiple inquiries, NYU Langone Health declined to comment on the cancellations to The New York Times. Hospital spokesperson Steve Ritea stated that he did not have any information to share, further fueling concerns among affected families and LGBTQ+ advocates.
Trump’s executive order, issued within his first two weeks back in office, is part of a broader policy shift targeting transgender rights in healthcare, education, and government institutions. The report in The New York Times said that the order explicitly states: “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 sweeping language of the order has already led to confusion among healthcare providers and hospitals that offer gender-affirming care to transgender youth. Many hospital administrators are now consulting with legal teams to determine whether continuing to provide treatment to minors could result in the loss of federal funding or even legal penalties under the new directive.
The ban on gender-affirming medical care for trans youth is just one piece of Trump’s broader agenda targeting transgender rights, The New York Times report noted. The executive order on healthcare was one of several Trump has issued in recent weeks to reverse pro-LGBTQ+ policies implemented under the Biden administration.
Another executive order, titled “Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” requires that federal prisons house transgender women in men’s facilities and aims to prevent public schools from recognizing trans identities.
These policies mirror state-level bans that have already been enacted in over two dozen states, restricting puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The New York Times report pointed out that many of these state bans are currently being challenged in court, with LGBTQ+ rights groups arguing that they violate constitutional equal protection and parental rights provisions.
In New York City, hospitals are now scrambling to assess the full impact of Trump’s executive order. The New York Times report indicated that officials from two major hospital systems, speaking anonymously, confirmed that legal teams are currently reviewing whether their transgender healthcare programs must be modified or shut down entirely in response to the new directive.
Many hospitals fear that failure to comply with the executive order could result in severe financial consequences, as they rely on federal funding from Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. This uncertainty is leaving transgender patients and their families in an increasingly vulnerable position, unsure whether they will be able to continue receiving necessary medical care.
The impact of these policy changes is particularly significant in New York, which has one of the highest percentages of transgender youth in the country. The New York Times report said that according to a recent survey, about 3% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 in New York State identify as transgender—nearly double the national average.
LGBTQ+ advocates argue that removing access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy will significantly harm transgender youth, increasing their risk of mental health struggles, depression, and suicide. Major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Endocrine Society, support gender-affirming care as medically necessary and lifesaving for trans youth.
As hospitals freeze gender-affirming care programs, many families of transgender children are now forced to seek treatment in other states or consider moving entirely to regions where access to medical care remains protected. For lower-income families who cannot afford to travel, these new restrictions could effectively block access to critical healthcare for their children, as was detailed in The New York Times report.
One of the most far-reaching implications of Trump’s executive order is its potential impact on federally funded research. The U.S. government provides billions of dollars in research grants to major medical schools and hospitals, many of which operate transgender health programs.
With the new directive in place, any hospital or medical institution receiving federal funding will now be required to cease all gender-affirming care for minors—or risk losing their federal research grants, according to The New York Times report. This financial pressure could force many hospitals, including those in progressive states like New York and California, to shut down or significantly reduce their transgender healthcare programs for youth.
Beyond financial repercussions, Trump’s executive order also raises the threat of criminal prosecution and lawsuits against hospitals and physicians who continue to provide gender-affirming care.
The Justice Department has been instructed to examine whether federal laws against female genital mutilation (FGM)—which were originally passed to ban certain cultural practices involving the cutting of the clitoris or labia in immigrant communities—can be applied to gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth, as was revealed in The New York Times report.
This move has sparked immediate controversy. Legal experts argue that gender-affirming surgeries—which are performed with full consent from patients, parents, and doctors—are fundamentally different from FGM, which is often performed on minors without their consent as a rite of passage in certain cultures.
However, Trump’s administration appears to be using existing laws as a tool to criminalize gender-affirming care, putting doctors at risk of federal prosecution for providing medically recommended treatments to transgender youth.
While some hospitals have begun canceling procedures in response to the executive order, some doctors are refusing to comply—even if it means risking jail time.
The New York Times reported that one of the most outspoken medical professionals in the wake of the order is Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum, a pediatrician at the state-run University Hospital of Brooklyn, who has vowed to continue treating his young trans patients despite the legal risks.
“I’m willing to go to jail to continue to provide your care,” Dr. Birnbaum has been telling his patients and their families.
Dr. Birnbaum currently treats approximately 75 transgender youth, many of whom depend on puberty blockers and hormone therapy as part of their medical transition.
One of his patients, 14-year-old Maya Armstrong, was panicked after hearing about the executive order, fearing that she would not receive her next scheduled shot of puberty-blocking medication in March, The New York Times reported.
Her father, Mark Armstrong, a Brooklyn-based theater director, said the uncertainty surrounding his daughter’s medical care has caused widespread anxiety among parents of trans children.“Obviously, there is a lot of free-floating anxiety in the trans parent community,” Armstrong told The New York Times.
While Armstrong expressed relief that Dr. Birnbaum was committed to continuing treatment, not all families are as fortunate.
For families whose children were receiving gender-affirming care at larger hospital systems, the situation has become increasingly dire. One Brooklyn mother, whose 12-year-old child identifies as nonbinary, was devastated when NYU Langone canceled their child’s scheduled puberty-blocking procedure—a one-year implant that was meant to replace an earlier injection.
“I don’t think we have a lot of options,” she told The New York Times, explaining that she and her family have been calling hospitals and clinics in multiple cities, desperate to find a provider willing to continue care.
This cancellation came one day after the executive order was issued, further fueling speculation that hospitals are preemptively shutting down services in anticipation of federal enforcement actions.
Medical experts warn that denying access to gender-affirming care can have serious mental health consequences for transgender youth. Dr. Birnbaum emphasized that puberty blockers serve a critical role in helping trans youth navigate their gender identity by reducing feelings of distress and dysphoria.
“It decreases their dysphoria,” Dr. Birnbaum explained to The New York Times, “For some of my patients, puberty blockers have made them feel ‘less suicidal.’”
His concerns echo the findings of leading medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Endocrine Society, all of which support gender-affirming care as medically necessary for trans youth.
Trump’s executive order is part of a broader national movement aimed at banning gender-affirming care for minors. The New York Times reported that over two dozen states have already passed laws restricting access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and many of these laws are currently being challenged in court.
However, by applying federal pressure, Trump’s executive order may force hospitals nationwide—even in blue states like New York and California—to comply with the new restrictions or face severe financial and legal consequences.
With hospitals relying on federal research grants, the threat of losing funding may force many institutions to halt gender-affirming care, even if they disagree with the policy.
Meanwhile, legal challenges are inevitable. Civil rights groups, LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, and medical professionals are expected to challenge the executive order in federal court, arguing that it violates patient rights, medical ethics, and equal protection under the law, according to The New York Times report.
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Why would you write an article like this based entirely on the highly biased and known dishonest NYT without any opposing viewpoint? Reports have come out already about how the American Academy of Pediatrics adopted its transgender position based on questionable research pushed by an activist organization against the advice of their own doctors. European contries have already stopped this kind of transgender care for children because not only has research shown that it does not lower suicide risk, it may actually increase it. The rate of children who later regret transitions or even detransition is also way too high to ignore.
To present the Trump administration's position as "denying critical health care to children" with no other prospective is dishonest misinformation.