HHS to stop demanding Hospitals Halt GAC While Lawsuit Moves Forward

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaking with attendees at the Memorial for Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona / Wikipedia

HHS has agreed to stop threatening funding for hospitals and providers offering health care to transgender adolescents while a lawsuit by 22 states moves forward.

That means providers can keep caring for patients, and families can focus on what matters most: helping their trans kids thrive, GLAD Law said on Instagram.

However, the damage has been done as some hospitals complied in advance when threatened by HHS.

The American Academy of Pediatrics position is clear: The Prohibition of Gender-Affirming Care as a Form of Child Maltreatment.

Dr. Susan J. Kressly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said HHS was departing from “the longstanding principle that health care policy should be grounded in scientific evidence, clinical expertise, and the needs of children and families.”

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You can comment on CMS-2451-P anonymously, if you wish, until February 17, 2026.

The following is my comment and my opinion. I submitted it on 1/11/2026 and received an email that it would be reviewed prior to publication.

"I oppose the proposed rule CMS-2451-P, a rule that would deny gender afirming care to patients under the age of 19 who are receiving this life-saving care through Medicare and Medicaid. The denial of such care is contrary to the positions of every major US medical association."

"The position of the American Academy of Pediatrics is that the prohibition of gender-affirming Care (GAC) is a form of child maltreatment, and denying GAC is medical neglect, emotional abuse, and child abuse. The weaponization of child abuse in the discourse around GAC is fallacious and counterproductive, and it has led to numerous real threats to children’s safety and well-being. (Pediatrics published December 20, 2023)

"As a transgender adult who has benefited from gender afirming care for the past 30 years, I implore U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reconsider this rule."

I realize testifying in front of your executioner is counterintuitive, but I had to take a stand for our children.