After North Carolina’s two largest medical providers halted gender-affirming care for patients below the age of 19, trans youth in the state are left with few options for treatment.

Ahead of a looming Trump administration crackdown on treatments like hormone replacement therapy—which substitutes sex-related hormones like estrogen or testosterone to physically transition patients’ bodies to align with their gender identity—for patients 18 and younger, Advocate Health and University of North Carolina Health have ended such gender-affirming care for anyone under 19.

“It’s very disappointing that they would do this,” said Ivy Johnson, an attorney with the ACLU of North Carolina. “It’s completely ignoring the fact that 18-year-olds are adults in this country, and I think it’s irresponsible to discontinue care for people who’ve already been under a certain course of treatment.”

The restrictions adopted by UNC Health and Advocate Health exceed a North Carolina law passed in 2023 over then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto that barred minors from receiving gender-affirming care, but exempted patients already undergoing treatment due to health risks associated with halting care.

Just eight days into his second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to crack down on medical interventions such as puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and other treatments aimed at facilitating gender transition for patients under 19.

That manifested in December as a set of HHS regulations that would condition Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program for hospitals on compliance with federal restrictions on gender-affirming care, among other measures intended to pressure health-care providers.

Now, trans youth in........

© Rewire.News