N.Y. Hospital Stops Treating 2 Children After Trump’s Trans Care Order

The hospital canceled their appointments the same week an executive order from President Trump threatened to punish doctors and hospitals for offering gender-affirming care.

A leading New York City hospital system has begun canceling appointments for transgender children following President Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatments, according to the children’s parents.

The hospital system, NYU Langone Health, has not made any public announcements. But word spread among parents of trans children after the hospital canceled appointments for two 12-year-olds who had been scheduled to receive implants that dispense puberty-blocking medication.

The father of one of the children said his child’s doctor had told him that because of “the new administration” — a reference to Mr. Trump’s executive order — the hospital would not be able to proceed with the procedure. The child had been due on Thursday to have a small device that would release Supprelin LA, a puberty-blocking medication, implanted in the upper arm. The father said the doctor suggested that they try calling other hospital systems in New York City or one the doctor recommended in Philadelphia.

The second 12-year-old was scheduled to have the same procedure on Friday. That child’s mother said she was informed that her child’s appointment was canceled on Wednesday, one day after the executive order was issued. When she asked why, she said, she was told that the medical team was “awaiting more guidance.”

A spokesman for NYU Langone Health, Steve Ritea, declined to comment, saying he did not have any information he could share. NYU Langone is one of several major medical centers in the city with transgender health programs for youth and adolescents. About 3 percent of teenagers ages 13 to 17 in New York State said they are transgender, about twice the national average, according to one recent survey.

The executive order at issue is one of a flurry that President Trump has issued regarding gender and trans issues in his first two weeks in office. It takes aim at doctors and hospitals who provide trans youth under the age of 19 with gender-affirming medical treatment, which can include puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery.