Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will no longer offer gender-affirming care amid pressure from the Trump administration.
Parents of transgender children receiving care at Children’s received messages, shared with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, through their online patient portal informing them Children’s would be moving patients receiving gender-affirming care to other organizations and would not accept new patients “due to threats to federal funding.”
A spokesperson for Children’s told the AJC the nonprofit organization is acting in compliance with the statutory provisions enacted by Georgia Senate Bill 140, which prohibits hospitals from treating “gender dysphoria in minors.” While the bill has been passed by the legislature, it has yet to be signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.
The Children’s spokesperson also cited executive orders from the Trump administration. On Jan. 28, the administration announced through executive order that “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” through gender-affirming care like hormones and puberty blockers. However, this order was temporarily blocked from enforcement by a federal judge in February as the courts consider the policy.
“It is inconsiderate and dangerous to stop providing necessary gender-affirming medical care to youth,” Chanel Haley, the Deputy Executive Director of Georgia Equality, told Georgia Voice. “The medical care providers at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta should know this more than anyone. They should be using their medical experience to make judgements and not succumb to the pressures of aggressive government tactics that are meant to be divisive. Limiting access for families to receive gender-affirming care will not stop families from seeking the care, but it will make the efforts more difficult, and possibly dangerous.”
This is not the only example of a Georgia-based institution succumbing to anti-LGBTQ+ pressures from the Trump administration; in February, Georgia Tech dissolved the LGBTQ+ Pride Alliance and other groups for marginalized students due to executive orders seeking to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from educational institutions.
SB140 is one of several pieces of anti-trans legislation pushed by Georgia lawmakers. This year, bills banning trans student athletes from playing on teams aligning with their gender and all gender-affirming care for trans prisoners were passed by the state legislature.
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