Rep. Crenshaw Introduces Bill Banning Medicaid Funding for Child Sex Change Interventions

This month, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) introduced a bill to prohibit federal Medicaid funding for child sex change interventions.

The bill, titled the Do No Harm in Medicaid Act, would prohibit Medicaid funds from going toward sex change surgical procedures, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers.

These surgical procedures include genital surgeries such as phalloplasties, as well as chest surgeries such as mastectomies.

“Dangerous and irreversible sex change interventions for children should have no place in the American medical system,” said Stanley Goldfarb, MD, Chairman of Do No Harm. “These harms only compound when American citizens are forced to fund these procedures. Prohibiting federal Medicaid funding of sex change interventions for minors is essential to protect this country’s children.”

The existing evidence does not support the use of sex change interventions to treat gender-distressed children. The Cass Review, an exhaustive review of gender medical services in the United Kingdom, found “remarkably weak evidence” to support the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for gender-distressed children. 

Many of the most frequently-cited studies supporting so-called “gender-affirming care” are rife with methodological errors. Meanwhile, countries including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Finland have each restricted minors’ access to these procedures due to the lack of evidence supporting their efficacy.

“We applaud Rep. Crenshaw’s efforts to curtail these harmful practices, and we will continue working with Congress and the Trump administration to create a medical system where no child is harmed by those who should be trusted to heal,” said Dr. Goldfarb.