Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a 98-page report on Tuesday said that laws banning gender-affirming care in the US are inflicting severe harm on young people, their families, and on healthcare systems. Many families reported traveling long distances to seek treatment, with many insurance companies routinely denying coverage for out-of-state treatment. Six states—Idaho, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida—currently recognize the provision of gender-affirming care to minors as a felony offense.
HRW stated that many hospitals, clinics and physicians that provide such care have routinely faced threats. Clinicians at Boston Children’s Hospital were accused of giving hysterectomies to children, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center was accused of pressuring parents to accept gender-affirming care for their children. A man from Texas also made a death threat to one of the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center‘s physicians. Another family said they were “blindsided” when their state’s child welfare agency began investigating them for supporting their child’s transgender identity.
HRW interviewed 51 people in 19 states, including transgender youth, parents, healthcare workers, and advocates. Every single healthcare provider interviewed stated that they faced harassment, and many of their institutions have diverted funds that could be used for patient care. One advocate said that “people are scared to lose their kids,” and one 10-year-old trans girl said that she was “devastated” when her family felt forced to relocate to protect her against anti-trans hostility. This greatly parallels some of the fears expressed in a survey taken by The Trevor Project in 2022, which revealed that 45 percent of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year and that 60 percent of LGBTQ+ youth who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it.
In 2024, the American Psychological Association released a policy statement stating that bans on gender-affirming care disregard the large body of medical and psychological research that supports the positive impact of gender-affirming treatments. In 2022, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Children’s Hospital Association sent a letter to then-US Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the Department of Justice to prosecute those threatening violence against hospitals and physicians providing gender-affirming care.
The impacts of such anti-LGBTQ+ laws come amidst a growth of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, particularly with the Trump administration’s executive order that purports to protect children from “chemical and surgical mutilation,” calling related procedures “junk science.” Further, a recent federal decision struck down the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s transgender employee protection policy. Finally, the US Supreme Court is set to rule on whether a Tennessee ban on certain gender-affirming care violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
