To: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
RFK Jr., Don’t Kill Health Care for Trans Youth – Follow the Real Science
Families United for Trans Rights
The US Department of Health and Human Service proposed rules which will deny hundreds of thousands of young Americans essential health care by taking away the ability to make medical decisions from their parents and health care providers. HHS’s proposed rule will inflict harm by banning gender-affirming health care for trans youth under the Medicaid and CHIP programs. As thousands of Americans who submitted public comments pointed out, the rule is based on biased science and amounts to scapegoating of transgender people and their health care. We demand that Secretary Kennedy listen to the comments, the science, the health care professionals, and parents and rescind the rule.
Why is this important?
There are an estimated 724,000 transgender youth between the ages of 13 and 17 in the United States. Each one, together with their own parents and guardians, turn to medical professionals to make informed, evidence-based decisions.
Reputable, unbiased studies have demonstrated that the health care targeted by HHS is safe, effective, and supported by many major medical associations in the United States. By contrast, HHS based its proposed rule on an internal review which is deeply flawed and has been meticulously criticized by reputable major U.S. medical groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. When it comes to rules about health care for youth, these professional associations are far more credible sources of scientific knowledge than an HHS report that misrepresents the medical consensus and the realities of pediatric care.
Every child deserves access to the full range of health care they need, particularly when parents are involved in the decision making in collaboration with medical, psychological, and spiritual advisers. As family members of trans Americans—parents, grandparents, and loved ones who are all part of Families United for Trans Rights (FUTR), we've seen firsthand how important these informed conversations are and how essential access to health care is.
Thousands took the time to offer thoughtful comments about these proposed rules. The vast weight of the comments demonstrates widespread opposition to HHS’s attempts to demonize transgender people and deny them access to the health care they need. As people across a wide range of political, religious and moral views, we believe that health care decisions must be guided by accurate, well-founded medical and scientific information, not by ideology and bias. All youth deserve health care that their providers recommend—and parents and professionals, not biased science, should make these decisions. Don’t demonize trans youth and deny them the health care they need.
Thousands took the time to offer thoughtful comments about these proposed rules. The vast weight of the comments demonstrates widespread opposition to HHS’s attempts to demonize transgender people and deny them access to the health care they need. As people across a wide range of political, religious and moral views, we believe that health care decisions must be guided by accurate, well-founded medical and scientific information, not by ideology and bias. All youth deserve health care that their providers recommend—and parents and professionals, not biased science, should make these decisions. Don’t demonize trans youth and deny them the health care they need.