The Department of Health and Human Services referred Seattle Children’s Hospital to the Office of the Inspector General on Friday for “failure to meet professional recognized standards of health care,” according to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent directive on sex-change surgeries for minors.
Earlier this month, the secretary released a declaration on the “Safety, Effectiveness, and Professional Standards of Care for Sex-Rejecting Procedures on Children and Adolescents.” Seattle Children’s Hospital, which has long operated a youth gender clinic, will now potentially lose its Medicaid and Medicare funding per the new guidelines.
According to an HHS post on X, “sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors.”
The declaration is the most recent step in the Trump administration’s crusade to abolish gender ideology, gender dysphoria, and sex-change procedures and treatments for minors.
National Review previously reported on Seattle Children’s Hospital and its collaboration with Seattle Public Schools to stock “Community Health Lockers” with “gender-affirming products” like TransTape and chest binders. Further, the hospital was listed as a third-party that received data from the invasive Check Yourself survey, which questioned students as young as fifth grade on their sexual preferences.
While the hospital states that genital mutilation requires the patient to be at least 18 years old, other body-altering surgeries can be done earlier.
“For patients and families interested in learning about gender-affirming medical care, our team can help design an individualized care plan that takes into account the patient’s stage of puberty, future care goals, and any current or past health concerns,” the Gender Clinic tab on the hospital’s website reads. “Gender-affirming medical care is only available for patients who have started puberty and requires consent from parents or guardians, unless the patient is an emancipated minor.”
After HHS released its directive, 19 blue states — including Washington State — and the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for allegedly issuing the policy without consulting medical professionals. The suit also claims the directive is an overreach of Kennedy’s authority as secretary.
“The Kennedy Declaration has immediate, significant, and harmful impacts on the Plaintiff States as administrators of state Medicaid programs and as regulators of the practice of medicine,” the suit reads.
Currently, gender change procedures or treatments for minors are banned or restricted in 27 states across the United States.
HHS directed National Review to their X post when asked for comment, while Seattle Children’s Hospital failed to respond to National Review‘s request for comment at the time of publication.