Families and advocates anxious about order that ends gender-affirming care federal funding

Families with transgender children are heartbroken over President Donald Trump’s executive order that would end federal funding for gender-affirming care to those under the age of 19. Trump expects federal agencies to explain how they’re going to make sure federal dollars don’t go to gender-affirming care to people ages 18 and under.

Transgender advocates say this could result in a host of mental health issues for transgender people who need care.

“So I actually have two queer trans kids, and for them, it is not an exaggeration to say that gender affirming care for them in their teenage years, ones 18, ones 21, has been lifesaving,” said former Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran. “As a lawyer, it seems chock full of pain and full of challenges at every possible level. As a doctor, it violates our oath to do no harm, and as a mom, which transcends all of it, it is causing unimaginable harm to our kids.”

On the other hand, some say kids shouldn’t be able to make these decisions for themselves.

“I have three kids and, you know, they changed their mind like crazy. You know, a baseball player or the next day, oh, they want to be a scientist when they grow up. It’s when you’re growing up and you’re young adolescent, you go through a lot of changes in life,” said Gabriel Buhler, the chairman of the Republican Party of Washington County. “When you’re doing something like gender-affirming care, puberty blockers, if you take them and you take them for an extended period of time, it’s irreparable. You can’t go back."

The executive order is called, “Protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation.” Transgender advocates don’t believe it is mutilation, but rather that it is gender-affirming care.

“I absolutely support restricting federal funds. It’s not the job of the federal government to be funding cutting body parts off people. Period. You know, if you get to the age, I know the executive order says 19, but you know, you get to legal age of a consenting adult, if you want to do that to your body, so be it,” said Buhler.

The executive order says that “Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children on their own or nurture their children through breast feeding.”

“I know that from my very thoughtful child, one of them, who is independent as me as a human, has thought about this a lot and regrets that they weren’t able to do gender-affirming care, because they actually went through puberty and it was devastating for them,” said Meieran.

https://katu.com/news/local/families-and-advocates-anxious-about-president-donald-trump-executive-order-that-ends-gender-affirming-care-funding

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News post in at: January 31, 2025, 3:01 am.

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