President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at halting federal funding and support for gender transition procedures for minors.
“Today, it was my great honor to sign an Executive Order banning the chemical castration and medical mutilation of innocent children in the United States of America,” Trump said on TruthSocial.
The order begins with a strong condemnation of the “chemical and surgical mutilation” of young people, asserting that such practices are based on “radical and false” claims about changing a child’s sex through medical intervention. It notes that children who undergo these treatments often face irreversible consequences like sterility and lifelong medical issues. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end,” the order states.
The order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” applies to individuals under 19 years of age and to medical intervention aimed at transitioning from one sex to another – including the use of puberty blockers, hormone treatments, or surgery. “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications,” the order states.
Conservative U.S. Senator Mike Lee lauded the move, stating on X, “This is an incredible victory for families, science, and truth.”
Conservative filmmaker and podcaster Matt Walsh said, “Spectacular stuff. I couldn’t have written it any better. Trump is doing literally everything he can do in his position to put a stop to this barbarism. Now it’s up to congress to finish the job.”
But an American Civil Liberties Union attorney with the group’s LGBTQ & HIV Project told the Associated Press, “It’s very clear that this order, in combination with the other orders that we’ve seen over the past week, are meant to not protect anyone in this country, but rather to single-mindedly drive out transgender people of all ages from all walks of civic life.”
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson was similarly outraged. “This executive order is a brazen attempt to put politicians in between people and their doctors, preventing them from accessing evidence-based health care supported by every major medical association in the country,” she said in a statement. “It is deeply unfair to play politics with people’s lives and strip transgender young people, their families and their providers of the freedom to make necessary health care decisions.”
Trump’s executive action demands an immediate end to reliance on “junk science,” particularly targeting the guidelines from the controversial World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). Government agencies are instructed to rescind policies that follow WPATH’s advice, and the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary required to conduct a comprehensive review of best practices for children experiencing gender dysphoria.
The order also extends to federal funding, directing agencies to ensure that no federal research or educational grants support these medical practices. The HHS Secretary is given a broad mandate to realign federal health policy through regulatory adjustments, including the withdrawal of previous guidance that supported gender-affirming care for minors.
The order impacts military families through TRICARE, the health insurance provided by the Department of Defense, by excluding coverage for the procedures. Similarly, federal employees’ health benefits are to be adjusted to exclude such treatments starting from the 2026 plan year.
The U.S. Attorney General is tasked with a multi-faceted role, from enforcing laws against practices like female genital mutilation to initiating investigations into potential consumer deception regarding the long-term effects of these treatments. The order includes a push for new federal legislation to allow those impacted by these procedures to seek legal recourse.
In a signal that the administration intends to implement rigorous compliance, the order lists provisions for oversight and accountability and requires agencies to report back on their efforts.
“Our Nation will no longer fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support so-called ‘gender affirming care,’ which has already ruined far too many precious lives,” Trump said; adding, “My Order directs Agencies to use every available means to cut off Federal financial participation in institutions which seek to provide these barbaric medical procedures, that should have never been allowed to take place!”
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
It is obvious that President Trump has not lost his male organs.