“[H]ospitals now are doing reverse surgery at my order,” Trump told supporters during an August 21 rally for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Darline Graham at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in South Carolina. “They’re doing reverse surgery. Nobody ever heard about it.”
It is unclear what Trump meant. Upon taking office last year, he issued an executive order prohibiting federal funds from being used to cover gender-affirming treatments for people under age 19.
To carry out that order, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed rules that would bar Medicaid from covering gender-affirming treatments and could strip federal funding from hospitals or clinics that provide such care to minors with gender dysphoria.
Trump may have been referring to a settlement that required Texas Children’s Hospital to open a “detransition clinic.” The agreement resolved a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleging that the hospital had provided gender-affirming care to minors in violation of state law and improperly billed Texas Medicaid for transition-related treatments using false diagnosis codes. Paxton’s office led the effort, with the U.S. Department of Justice helping negotiate the settlement.
The Cleveland Clinic reached a similar agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in June, LGBTQ Nation reported. Under the agreement, the clinic pledged $2 million toward care for detransitioners, although it already offered services for people seeking...
“[H]ospitals now are doing reverse surgery at my order,” Trump told supporters during an August 21 rally for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Darline Graham at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center i...