1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

The president of the United States stood before a crowd and claimed hospitals are performing "reverse surgery" on transgender people "at his order." That statement is false. No such order exists. His executive actions have done the opposite — cutting off care, not mandating procedures. This is not a minor misstatement. It is a fabrication about medical practice from the person holding the highest office in the country. Medical decisions belong to patients, their families, and their providers — full stop. A 2024 JAMA Network Open study covering nearly 23 million minors found gender-affirming surgeries were vanishingly rare, with only 85 procedures identified among teenagers, 82 of them chest-related. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Endocrine Society all support individualized, clinically guided care. Trump's claim bears no resemblance to reality, and using it to campaign for a Senate candidate who admitted she doesn't understand national security makes it worse. I expect you to publicly call out this misinformation and oppose any further political interference in the patient-provider relationship. Trans people deserve care based on medical evidence, not whatever a politician invents at a campaign rally.