1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to protect transgender people in our state from federal overreach that threatens their healthcare access and civil rights. The House passed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill this week that would make pediatric transition care a federal felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. Three Democrats joined Republicans in this vote: Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and Donald Davis of North Carolina. While this bill may not pass the Senate, the Trump administration is bypassing Congress entirely. Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced new rules stripping Medicaid and Medicare funding from any hospital providing pediatric transition care. Since virtually all hospitals accept such funding, this creates a de facto nationwide ban. These policies will harm hundreds of thousands of transgender children and their families. The medical evidence is clear: transgender children face elevated suicide risk due to discrimination, and transition care significantly reduces that risk. This federal action represents massive government overreach into parental rights and medical decisions that should remain between families and their doctors. The justifications for these policies do not withstand scrutiny. Studies show no safety impact from allowing transgender people to use appropriate bathrooms. Claims about gender clinics rushing children into surgery are fabrications. Regarding sports, only one transgender person has ever competed in the Olympics without winning a medal, and fewer than ten transgender athletes competed in all of American college sports as of last year. I am asking you to introduce and support state legislation that explicitly protects access to transgender healthcare, shields families from prosecution under federal law, and prevents state cooperation with federal enforcement of these discriminatory policies. Our state has the authority and responsibility to protect vulnerable minorities from civil rights violations. This is about defending parental rights, medical autonomy, and basic human dignity against federal government intrusion into private medical decisions.