New York Attorney General Letitia James warned hospitals on Monday not to follow President Donald Trump’s directive to prohibit sex-change procedures for minors, arguing that doing so would violate state law.
Trump’s executive order (EO), which was signed last week, was titled “Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation.” Its aim is to restrict “chemical and surgical” sex-change procedures for minors.
“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” the EO states. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
The declaration goes on to state that the U.S. “will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.”
In the letter, James argued that refusing to provide gender-affirming treatment would violate anti-discrimination laws in the Empire State.
“Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws,” she said.
In an email obtained by the Associated Press, the spokesperson for the Greater New York Hospital Association said that his organization was consulting with hospitals about the EO.
“We are collaboratively working through every aspect of the EO to determine its legal and clinical implications,” spokesperson Brian Conway wrote. “That work is ongoing.”
SIX SERVICEMEMBERS CHALLENGE TRUMP’S TRANSGENDER MILITARY EXECUTIVE ORDER
In a recent interview, Fox News Channel senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel explained that the main treatments that will be discouraged under the EO include puberty blockers and sex reassignment surgery for minors.
“Puberty blockers, the main one is Lupron, which we use for prostate cancer, enough said,” Siegel said. “I mean, it interferes with bone growth, it can potentially interfere with fertility if it’s combined with hormones and it can interfere with thinking and cognition. I don’t believe that we can say the puberty blockers with hormones don’t have long-term side effects, they do.”
“Surgery, we’re talking about mastectomies, we’re talking about upper and lower surgeries. I think that that’s something that’s not reversible and it should never be done on children,” the doctor added. “Proponents of this will say, ‘Well the longer you wait, the more the child suffers.’ I think that there’s conflicting research on that. I’m not convinced of that.”
Siegel also stressed the importance of mental health treatment for teens and warned about the gravity of the decision to undergo sex-change procedures, which could be irreversible.
“You have a child, they’re having gender confusion. Did they get enough mental health counseling?” Siegel said. “Did they get a chance to develop? Are they being pressured politically by somebody in society, their parents? And then, most importantly, is the intervention leading to something that’s not reversible?”
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Fox News Digital reached out to James’ office and the White House for additional comment.
The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.
