President Donald Trump’s administration may begin cutting federal funding for hospitals that provide “gender affirming treatment” to minors, mirroring one of the president’s earliest executive orders entitled: “PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL MUTILATION.”
This would constitute a nuclear option, as many hospitals cannot function fully without federal funds — forcing the facilities to make drastic cutbacks or cease operations entirely.
Dr. Mehmet Oz — who serves as administrator for The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — gave a 30-day deadline to nine hospitals to provide specific data on “sex-reassignment surgeries, hormone therapy and puberty blockers,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
“President Trump has been clear: America will protect kids from life-altering and experimental procedures,” the former heart surgeon said. “CMS has warned hospitals and state Medicaid programs about these dangers — and is taking regulatory enforcement actions.”
Three hospitals located in Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle reportedly told CMS they would reply, yet none of them have provided the data. Two more hospitals in Colorado and Ohio told The Wall Street Journal they’re still working on a response.
Oz’s letter didn’t threaten specific consequences, but the federal government is now exploring the option of booting certain hospitals off Medicaid entirely.
Section four of Trump’s January executive order stated: “The head of each executive department or agency (agency) that provides research or education grants to medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals, shall, consistent with applicable law and in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”
One of the hospitals that received a letter from Oz — Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles — has decided to close its “gender-related care” program for children, and cited Trump’s efforts as the reason, according to WSJ. The hospital also admitted that over 65 percent of their annual revenue comes from federal money.
“These threats are no longer theoretical,” hospital leadership wrote in a letter to their staff. “The federal government has already cut off hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. academic and research institutions.”
Should the Trump administration go ahead with this plan?
They added, “The hospital has been left with no viable path forward.”
Other hospitals remain defiant and are daring Trump to pull the trigger. And he should.
It’s hypocritical to support laws that protect children from drinking, drugs, and smoking, while claiming they’re somehow old enough to switch their gender.
Not only is it unnatural, it’s a decision many children will have to live with for the rest of their lives. What happens if they change their minds and the dysphoria fades?
These practices can result in lifelong complications. It’s a huge trauma to the body and the mind.
Undertaking “gender affirming care” — or severe chemical treatments — requires major alterations to sensitive parts of the body and rounds of hormone injections, while medical bills pile up over the course of a patient’s life.
Yet these services are being heavily pushed by the medical community — for profit. This is the same industry that overcharges for unnecessary treatments, triggered an opioid crisis, and rubber stamped every form of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Countless children may soon regret the procedures and grow depressed when they realize they’ll never conceive a child of their own.
A Fox News report from earlier this year highlighted a study showing “transgender” surgeries increase the risk of mental health conditions and suicidal ideations.
It’s time to put a stop to this insane practice. And if withholding federal funds gets the ball rolling, then so be it.
Like so many trends that have come before it, history will not judge these measures kindly. So now is the time to protect America’s children, before it’s too late.
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