Connecticut Children’s Medical Center caves to Trump DOJ on gender-affirming care

A Connecticut hospital has agreed to Trump administration demands to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors, leaving transgender youth and their families scrambling amid concerns about continuity of care.The Justice Department announced Friday that Connecticut Children’s Medical Center had agreed to cease what the department calls “sex-rejecting procedures on minors,” making it the third medical institution to enter into a settlement agreement with the administration. The hospital will also pay a penalty and set aside $500,000 to provide care for individuals who say they were harmed by gender-affirming care they previously received.Related: Connecticut hospitals sued after cutting off transgender youths’ access to care, despite state protections“The Department of Justice will stop at nothing to protect America’s children,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “This resolution is a reminder to hospitals, medical providers, and pharmaceutical companies that the Justice Department will vigorously enforce federal law, especially where the lives of children are endangered.”The agreement comes as Connecticut Children’s is already facing legal action over its decision to halt such care. Transgender patients in December brought a lawsuit against the hospital for disrupting care in alleged violation of Connecticut state law. Attorneys with GLAD Law also filed civil rights complaints against Yale New Haven Health and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, accusing the two health systems of unlawfully cutting off gender-affirming medical care for transgender patients under 19.The hospital abruptly stopped providing care last year after President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning federal support for gender-affirming care for minors.Justice Department officials told the Hartford Courant that the institution had potentially violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the False Claims Act by providing gender-affirmi