Hundreds of people gathered at Washington Square Park in New Orleans on March 31, 2023, for a march to mark Transgender Day of Visibility. (Photo by Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
A coalition of state attorneys general, including Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, issued a joint statement Thursday rejecting President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict gender-affirming care.
“As state attorneys general, we stand firmly in support of health care policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people,” the statement issued Wednesday said.
“Health care decisions should be made by patients, families, and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms. Gender-affirming care is essential, life-saving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves.”
In his administration’s latest attempt to restrict transgender rights, Trump issued an executive order late last month, restricting federal funds from supporting gender transitions for people under age 19.
Newest round of Trump moves targets federal employees, care for transgender kids
“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 executive order said.
That means federally-run insurance programs, including Medicaid and programs that cover health care for military families, can’t cover care for transgender, nonbinary or gender nonconforming youth seeking medical interventions that affirm their gender identity (which can be different from their biological sex).
Gender-affirming care encompasses a wide range of support, including non-medical services such as affirming young people’s pronouns or allowing access to bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The medical component may include consultations with doctors, puberty blockers and hormones, or surgeries (although surgeries are rare compared with other types of care). This category of medical care is broadly supported by organizations including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In fact, blocking access to gender-affirming care could be considered child maltreatment, according to a 2023 paper outlining pediatricians’ perspectives.
Trump’s executive order calls the use of puberty blockers or hormones and other common interventions “chemical and surgical mutilation.”
In their statement, the attorneys general said the order “is wrong on the science and the law.”
“Despite what the Trump administration has suggested, there is no connection between ‘female genital mutilation’ and gender-affirming care,” they said, referring to a procedure most commonly performed on young women in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, which is recognized internationally as a violation of human rights, “and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful.” The statement added, “President Trump cannot change that by Executive Order.”
Last year, the Legislature passed a shield law that protects reproductive and gender-affirming health care providers in Maine from civil or criminal challenges from states where such care is illegal.
Planned Parenthood’s local campaign arm applauded Frey’s support of gender-affirming care. In a statement, Lisa Margulies, vice president of public affairs with Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund, said, “it is important that our state leaders do everything they can to protect Mainers’ access to care.”
The other states to sign the executive order include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James told hospitals this week that they would be violating state law if they stop offering gender-affirming care for people under age 19 in response to the executive order.
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