CNN
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Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday issued a memo of directives to Justice Department employees to enforce the Trump administration’s policies targeting gender-affirming care for minors, according to a copy of the memo obtained by CNN.
The memo comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January titled, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” The executive order targets minors that identify as transgender and says that the United States will not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” minors who are seeking gender-affirming care.
“Pursuant to the President’s directive, I am issuing the following guidance to all Department of Justice employees to enforce rigorous protections and hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable children and their parents,” the memo from Bondi said.
The memo, which was first reported by LawDork, outlines several guidelines that Justice Department employees must follow in order to implement the policies outlined in Trump’s executive order. Initiatives include drafting and promoting new legislation, establishing a state and federal coalition against child mutilation, and investigating medical providers and pharmaceutical companies who the memo says “mislead the public” on the side effects of gender-affirming care for minors.
Bondi’s memo specifically targets the medical community, saying that it has given families “misleading advice,” when seeking the help of medical professionals for this type of care.
Major mainstream medical associations — including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Endocrine Society, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry — have affirmed the practice of gender-affirming care and agree that it’s clinically appropriate care that can provide lifesaving treatment for children and adults.
“The medical community, with its roots in hard science, is well-positioned to serve as a bulwark against this sociological disease,” Bondi’s memo said. “And indeed, parents who are desperate to help their confused, frustrated children have understandably turned to medical professionals for help.”
Medicine and surgery can be used in the broader practice known as gender-affirming care, but such interventions are typically reserved for adults. International guidelines do not recommend medical or surgical intervention before transgender children reach puberty. Even for older teens and adults, surgery is relatively rare, research shows. The broader practice of gender-affirming care can also include counseling for the individual and for the family at any age.
For children, gender-affirming care is defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics as developmentally appropriate, nonjudgmental treatment that’s provided in a safe clinical space. The care is individualized and based on peer-reviewed scientific studies that show its effectiveness.
Bondi concludes her memo by stating again that the Justice Department will carry out the administration’s policies on gender-affirming care.
“Protecting America’s children must be a top priority, whether from drug cartels, terrorists, or even our own medical community,” Bondi wrote. “Every day, we hear more harrowing stories about children who will suffer for the rest of their lives because of the unconscionable ideology behind ‘gender-affirming care.’”
Twenty-six states have passed bans on gender-affirming health care for transgender children and teenagers, according to a CNN analysis of data from the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank that advocates for LGBTQ rights.
