1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

The Trump administration is using federal prisons as a test case to ban gender-affirming care for all adults. You must oppose this dangerous precedent. Program Statement 5260.01 denies transgender people in federal custody access to medically necessary healthcare, forcing them into conversion therapy instead. The administration is now defending this policy in Kingdom v. Trump by claiming gender-affirming care isn't healthcare at all and is actually harmful. They're relying on Dr. Kristopher Kaliebe, who has ties to SEGM (designated a hate group by SPLC), to argue that hormone therapy is "experimental treatment" that should be discontinued for nearly all trans people. This is the same justification used in Executive Order 14187, which already strips federal funding from providers offering care to minors. That order defines "children" as ages 18-19, who are legal adults. There's no legal difference between banning care at 19 versus 26 or 60. Dozens of providers have already capitulated to these funding threats. Republicans in Oklahoma and Texas have introduced bills banning gender-affirming care at all ages. If courts rule that this care isn't medically necessary for prisoners, that precedent will be used to justify a nationwide ban for all adults. Protect my right to access healthcare by publicly opposing PS 5260.01 and any effort to characterize gender-affirming care as non-medical.