Donald Trump’s executive order bans ‘chemical and surgical mutilation’ of children through trans health care

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will restrict transgender care access through healthcare to children under the age of 19.

The order, titled “Protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation”, will restrict US citizens under the age of 19 from accessing puberty blockers, sex hormones such as androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone or testosterone and surgical procedures for gender-affirming care through healthcare.

“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilising 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,” Mr Trump said in the order.

“This dangerous trend will be a stain on our nation’s history, and it must end.”

The order defines gender-affirming care as the “attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs to minimise or destroy their natural biological functions.”

Mr Trump says within 90 days of his order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will publish “a review of the existing literature on best practices for promoting the health of children who assert gender dysphoria, rapid-onset gender dysphoria, or other identity-based confusion.”

The order would not outlaw gender-affirming care, meaning those who could self-fund treatment would still be able to pursue medical or surgical care.

Mr Trump called for the end of “the chemical and surgical mutilation of children” by any organisation receiving federal funds via research or education grants, a move that mimics his funding freezing that is currently being blocked by a US court.

For the nearly two million US citizens under the age of 18 who hold healthcare through the Department of Defence TRICARE cover, new rules will be written into coverage to exclude “chemical and surgical mutilation of children”.

The order will also impact families covered under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) programs.

Mr Trump’s latest order also seeks to protect parents who “support the healthy development of their own children”, with the Republican president ordering investigations into what he calls “child-abusive practices” from states that remove children from a biological parent’s custody over gender-affirming care.

Senator Mike Lee applauded Mr Trump’s order, calling it an “incredible victory”.

“Today, President Trump signed an Executive Order to protect America’s children from surgical mutilation and trans ideology,” he wrote on X.

“This is an incredible victory for families, science, and truth.”

Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT+ civil rights advocacy organisation in the United States said: “Everyone deserves the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions for themselves and their families — no matter their income, zip code, or health coverage.”

“But President Trump announced an executive order targeting health care for trans people under 19 — a disturbing attempt to put the federal government between families and their doctors.”

The group said in a statement it was seeking further information to “fight” the executive order and support members of the LGBT+ community.

The latest executive order comes after Mr Trump vowed to ban “invented pronouns” from the US armed forces and the potential removal of trans people if they were an active service member within 12 months of transitioning.

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