1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action against the Trump administration's investigation of four major LGBTQ+ health centers: Callen-Lorde, LA LGBT Center, The Institute for Family Health, and Whitman-Walker. These investigations threaten to dismantle essential health care access for vulnerable communities based on misrepresented medical guidance. HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart announced these referrals citing statements from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Medical Association. However, neither organization used the administration's term "sex-rejecting procedures." The ASPS explicitly stated its position is not a clinical practice guideline and has not undergone formal guideline development. The AMA supports access to gender-affirming care for young people, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and uses the word "generally" when recommending surgical interventions be deferred to adulthood, allowing for exceptions in cases of severe dysphoria in older teens. The administration's approach creates a troubling contradiction. In Oregon v. Kennedy, where 22 states sued over HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s December 18 declaration, HHS argued the declaration is merely a nonbinding policy view not being used to target providers. Yet Stuart simultaneously boasts that over 40 hospital systems have stopped providing care in recent weeks due to threats of Medicare and Medicaid exclusion. This represents enforcement through intimidation while claiming no enforcement is occurring. These federally qualified health centers serve populations who already face significant barriers to health care access. Shutting down these organizations would eliminate comprehensive medical services far beyond gender-affirming care, harming entire communities. I ask that you publicly oppose these investigations, demand HHS cease using exclusion threats to pressure providers, and support legislation protecting access to evidence-based medical care for all patients regardless of gender identity.