The Connecticut Insider recently published an article about the unfolding crisis of restrictive healthcare for transgender youth in Connecticut. Last month, our state’s flagship children’s hospital, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center reached a settlement with the Trump DOJ about the provision of such care.
While it bears repeating that this healthcare is lifesaving, evidence-based, medically necessary and legally protected in our state, the settlement starkly demonstrates what transgender young people and their families have been experiencing for months: the loss of access to essential medical care and the scramble to find alternatives.
The scope of the agreement is deeply disturbing. For 10 years, Connecticut Children’s is prohibited not only from providing gender-affirming medical care to patients under 18, but also from helping families arrange that care through another provider.
This was both an act of unfounded intimidation by the federal government and unnecessary capitulation by an institution whose stated mission is to treat children. At the very least it is a callous disregard for the needs of a highly vulnerable population that has been under near constant attack for a year and a half. At the very worst, it’s a violation of a medical provider’s duty to do no harm.
This did not need to happen in Connecticut. This raises hard questions we need to ask ourselves as a state in light of this settlement:
First, is this even legal in Connecticut? In our state, it is illegal to discriminate against anyone on the basis of gender identity and expression, including in medical care. In our state, life-saving, evidence-based, medically necessary care for transgender people, including minors, is required treatment. Both private insurance and HUSKY have been required to cover this care for year.
Second, if the federal government can intimidate a provider to walk away from care for trans kids, who will they come for next? The political machinery they use today—weaponizing federal agencies, threatening providers, demanding private medical records, attempting to cut hospitals off from Medicare and Medicaid—provides a blueprint for restricting or eliminating abortion and reproductive health care, contraception and IVF, PrEP and HIV prevention, vaccines, disability services, end-of-life care, and care for immigrants.
These attacks did not start with this horrible settlement at Connecticut Children’s. And they won’t stop if left unaddressed. As a community, LGBTQ+ people in Connecticut have earned the right to expect leadership from our state leaders. Our governor, our legislature, civil service, and all Connecticut’s leaders should protect and stand with us.
So what’s next? While Connecticut Children’s is surrendering to the Trump administration, the federal government is finalizing regulations that prohibit the use of federal Medicaid dollars in covering healthcare for transgender youth. This care must continue, regardless whether federal funds can be used. That’s the law in our state. In addition to losing healthcare at prominent institutions, federal actions have created a chilling effect across the sector. State leaders must invest resources in making sure that willing providers have the support they need to see patients and families, and patients have the support they need to access care in a rapidly changing environment.
As we head into election season, it is a fair question for LGBTQ+ people and everyone in our state to ask what our leaders are doing to stand up to the vitriol and brutal tactics coming from Washington D.C. If we don’t stop them now, they won’t stop coming for us.