Children’s National Hospital Halts Gender Interventions for Minors

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Under intense federal pressure and legal risk, Children’s National Hospital (CNH) in Washington, D.C. announced last week it will stop providing harmful and potentially irreversible puberty blockers and hormones for children. According to CNH’s “A Message for Existing and New Patients,” the hospital’s gender interventions will cease August 30 and cited “escalating legal and regulatory risks” as the reason for its decision.

The hospital’s policy shift follows President Donald Trump’s January 28 Executive Order 14187, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” The order bans federal funding and support for gender-intervention procedures for individuals under 19, and labels puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and irreversible surgeries as “chemical and surgical mutilation.” The order states taxpayer dollars will not be used to pay for the “so-called” gender interventions attempting to change “a child from one sex to another,” which involves “destructive and life-altering procedures.” CNH noted its Gender Development Program did not perform mutilating surgeries to remove healthy body parts.