The Biden administration has now said that transgender surgeries should not be performed on children, in what appears to be a major shift.
A White House spokesperson said this week that while the administration supports gender-affirming care for minors (e.g., medications and hormone therapies), “deeply personal decisions” such as surgery should be reserved for adults only.
“We continue to support gender-affirming care for minors, which represents a continuum of care, and we respect the role of parents, families and physicians in these decisions,” the spokesperson wrote.
The new stance is a departure from previous statements. Biden himself criticized Republican states for restricting children’s access to uterine replacement surgeries.
The Biden administration said this week that gender-affirming surgeries should not be performed on children.
The White House has previously shown strong support for transgender healthcare.
And last week, for example, emails revealed that Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Adm. Rachel Levine, who is a trans woman, has drafted guidelines pushing for the removal of age limits for gender-affirming surgeries.
Previous guidelines recommended lowering age limits to 14 for hormone treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgery and 17 for genital surgery or hysterectomies, according to the New York Times. reported.
The White House’s moderate stance drew immediate criticism from LGBTQ organizations.
Kelly Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said Wednesday: “The Biden administration is completely wrong on this.”
“This is a scientific and fundamental error. It is also inconsistent with other measures the government has taken to support transgender youth.”
But some medical organizations have supported Biden’s new stance, saying maturity could better indicate whether gender-affirming care is appropriate for an individual.
The nonprofit organization The Endocrine Society, for example, recommends waiting until age 18 for genital surgery.
To date, 25 Republican-led states have adopted laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors since 2021. However, the severity of the measure depends on the state.
In Arizona, surgery is banned, while other forms of medical care are allowed. But in Texas, laws prohibit doctors from prescribing any gender-affirming treatment to transgender minors.
At least 20 states have taken steps to restrict or outright ban transitional health care for trans youth