President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Tuesday restricting transgender drugs and surgeries for minors.
The order lays out a litany of concerns, from the potential harm done to children to the lifelong medical bills, and says the U.S. government will no longer support “maiming and sterilizing” those age 18 and younger.
“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” the order reads. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
Trump’s order comes after another order that made it the official policy of the U.S. government that there are only two sexes, a significant shift from the Biden administration. Trump also recently signed an executive order blocking transgender people from joining the military.
Under the Biden administration, the military paid for and accommodated gender transitions.
“It can take a minimum of 12 months for an individual to complete treatments after transition surgery, which often involves the use of heavy narcotics,” Trump’s order said. “During this period, they are not physically capable of meeting military readiness requirements and require ongoing medical care. This is not conducive for deployment or other readiness requirements.”
Those orders have faced pushback and lawsuits, like some of Trump’s other orders.
This latest order related to minors points to surgeries to remove or alter breasts or genitals and drugs such as sex hormones, puberty blockers, “including GnRH agonists and other interventions…”
The order goes on to point out that “countless” children later regret their transitions, which are irreversible and often sterilize the recipients and make women unable to breastfeed.
“Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the order reads.
The executive order, one of a flurry signed by Trump since he took office, also directs the Department of Justice to investigate deceptive medical practices that have facilitated these surgeries and drugs and to put forward legislation allowing children and families to sue medical providers if they have been harmed by the process.
The order also says the DOJ must “prioritize investigations and take appropriate action to end child-abusive practices by so-called sanctuary States that facilitate stripping custody from parents who support the healthy development of their own children, including by considering the application of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act and recognized constitutional rights.”
