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New York Attorney General Letitia James is instructing a Manhattan hospital to resume offering gender-transition treatment to transgender youth after it ended such treatments last month over funding threats from the Trump administration.
NYU Langone’s decision to close its Transgender Youth Health Program violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws by “jeopardizing access to medically necessary healthcare for some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers,” James wrote in a Feb. 25 letter first made public this week.
James’ office threatened “further action” if the hospital does not immediately resume offering hormone therapies, puberty blockers and other treatment to transgender youth.
NYU Langone, one of the city’s largest hospital systems, said last month it would stop providing certain gender-transition treatments for patients under the age of 19.
“Given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program,” NYU Langone spokesman Steve Ritea said in a statement at the time. “We are committed to helping patients in our care manage this change. This does not impact our pediatric mental health care programs, which will continue.”
The hospital ceased admitting new patients into its transgender youth program last year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which aims to restrict gender-transition treatment for people under 19.
Referencing Trump’s order, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services later announced a proposal to cut federal Medicaid and Medicare funding to hospitals that provide these treatments to transgender youth.
But the Feb. 25 letter signed by the attorney general’s health care bureau chief, Darsana Srinivasan, said the proposal did not officially change federal law and did not affect a “medical institution’s existing duties and obligations under New York law.”
“The sudden discontinuation of medically necessary transgender healthcare can have severe, negative health outcomes,” Srinivasan wrote. “Accordingly, the Attorney General is extremely concerned by your institution’s decision to cease the provision of care to this vulnerable, minority population.”
LETITIA JAMES SUES HHS OVER TYING FEDERAL FUNDS TO TRANSGENDER POLICY
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The letter gives the hospital until March 11 to show its compliance, although it is unclear what steps would be taken if it fails to resume the treatments.
Several other hospitals across the country have also halted transgender youth treatments following Trump’s executive order and funding threats.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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