1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the recent policy announced by the Department of Health and Human Services that effectively bans healthcare for transgender people under 18. This policy, announced by RFK Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, denies Medicaid reimbursement to doctors and hospitals providing transgender healthcare to minors and threatens to withhold Medicaid and Medicare funding from any services offering such care. This policy forces hospitals into an impossible position. Since most hospitals depend heavily on federal programs to provide affordable treatment, they must choose between abandoning young trans patients or losing funding for all other patients. This is not healthcare policy. This is coercion that weaponizes the financial structure of our medical system to deny care to vulnerable children. At the press conference, Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill stated that children are innocent and need our protection. Yet this protection explicitly excludes transgender children, who are among the most vulnerable young people in our country. Denying them medically necessary care is not protection. It is abandonment. The consequences of this policy are already being felt. Transgender youth denied access to appropriate healthcare face dramatically increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Medical decisions should be made by patients, their families, and their doctors based on established clinical guidelines, not by federal officials threatening financial penalties. This policy may well be illegal, but regardless of its legal status, it is an act of cruelty. I ask you to publicly oppose this ban and to support legislation that protects the right of transgender minors to access medically necessary healthcare. These are our constituents, our neighbors' children, and they deserve the same compassionate care we would want for any young person struggling with their health. I need to know where you stand on this issue and what actions you will take to protect transgender youth in our community.