Trump Pledges Flurry of Executive Orders to Combat 'Gender Insanity'
Donald Trump pledged to sign a flurry of executive orders targeting gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.Gender-affirming health care has emerged as the latest culture war issue conservatives have railed against, with leading Republican politicians pushing for bans on procedures allowing transgender youth to undergo gender transitioning, arguing these procedures equate to child abuse.However, experts on LGBTQ health care say gender-affirming care—which includes surgical procedures, hormone therapy and puberty blockers to help transgender individuals' physical appearance align with their gender identity—offers important supportive care that helps improve the mental health of many transgender individuals.Trump, who is running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary following his defeat in the 2020 election, announced plans in a video posted to Twitter to sign a series of executive orders to roll back gender-affirming care, which he dismissed as "the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth.""The left-wing gender insanity being pushed on our children is an act of child abuse," he said in the video.Trump pledged to sign an executive order "on day one" that would instruct federal agencies to cease all programs that "promote" gender transitioning for transgender youth.
Furthermore, he said he would ask Congress to prevent taxpayer funds to be used on these procedures and pass a law banning gender-affirming care "in all 50 states."He continued to say he would declare any hospital that allows gender-affirming care as no longer meeting standards for Medicaid and Medicare and order the Justice Department to probe whether hospitals covered up side effects of transitioning for financial.
