Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo on Tuesday requesting an investigation into youth gender-maintaining care procedures.
Employees of the Department of Justice have been instructed to assess and retain healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies that mislead the public regarding the long-term consequences of chemical and surgical procedures targeting young individuals.
Bondi has described the memo as essential for a legal challenge stemming from a January executive order by President Trump, which intends to restrict access to gender-affirming care for those under 19 years old.
She also criticized “gender ideology,” asserting that it leads children to unnecessarily pursue gender-affirming care and surgical options.
“The concealed gender ideology in science suggests that adolescent stress and confusion should be viewed as false identities, and that the remedy is to permanently address these issues through life-altering chemical and surgical procedures, instead of addressing the root cause,” Bondi stated in her remarks.
Genital surgery aimed at maintaining the genitals is uncommon among minors, as leading transgender health organizations and endocrine bodies worldwide do not endorse it for individuals under 18.
While all major healthcare providers support gender-affirming care for transgender adults and minors, not every trans individual opts for a medical transition, and some lack the means to pursue such care.
The Trump administration has implemented measures to limit individuals’ access to support for this care following President Trump’s campaign focus on the matter last year.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently urged the state to refrain from applying Medicaid funds to gender-maintaining procedures for minors.
“As a physician and current CMS administrator, my primary goal is to safeguard children and uphold the law,” Mehmet Oz, the agency’s head, remarked in a statement earlier this month.
“Medicaid funds are not allocated for gender reassignment surgeries or hormone treatments in minors. These interventions may result in lasting and irreversible damage, including sterilization,” he added. “We are obligated to guarantee that healthcare is lawful, necessary, and serves the best interests of our patients.”
