New HHS Trans Report Counters Medical Care Consensus

New Federal Report on Transgender Youth Care Advises Against Medical Care for Highly Suicidal Population

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, May 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report attempting to discredit medical consensus and urging providers to avoid medical interventions for trans youth. Recent data on over 6,000 trans and nonbinary young people reveal 46% of these youth have seriously considered suicide in the last year alone. This report intones that statistic is a result of gender affirming care, ignoring that same survey's findings that only a small minority of trans youth receive such care. Recent leaked HHS budget documents also reveal their intention to defund the suicide hotline for this population, which comes soon after HHS steps to both terminate research and suppress trans data.

The report also comes close on the heels of an Attorney General's memo equating gender affirming care to "female genital mutilation" and proposing a nationwide ban with penalties against providers who do not comply. An excerpt from an AMA statement on this topic notes care bans “do not reflect the research landscape. More than 2,000 scientific studies have examined aspects of gender-affirming care since 1975, including more than 260 studies cited in the Endocrine Society’s Clinical Practice Guideline.” This statement was cosigned by eight major medical associations.

While there are individual instances of regret related to gender affirming care, a recent survey of 90,000 trans people in the U.S. showed less than 1% regret the type of care offered to teens (hormone therapy). In contrast, the rates of suicidal ideation for this population make them one of the most vulnerable in the country, indicating a high need to use all possible interventions to stabilize these at-risk youth.

“Blocking trans youth from accessing evidence-based medical care that could help them survive their teen years will only put more youth at risk,” says Dr. Scout, the Executive Director of the National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network as well as a conversion therapy survivor and formerly suicidal trans youth.

The National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network interviewed trans people on the topic of how anti-trans legislation was impacting their arc towards or away from cancer. The resulting video highlights how concerns about finding a welcoming and supportive provider are a major barrier to accessing cancer screenings and other essential health care.

“Showing us we can’t trust our providers to follow best practice guidelines when we are teenagers will only further spike the medical mistrust that already compromises our health,” says Dr. Scout. “Do health providers make the perfect decision about every patient’s care? No, but that doesn’t mean we take away their decision-making power.” He summarizes the moment like this: “With over 800 anti-trans bills introduced in 2025 alone, the message to trans youth that we do not support them is loud and clear - it's time to give trans youth a long hug and access to supportive health professionals, not push them away more.”

“I spent nearly a year of my teens in the mental hospital recovering from suicide attempts. During that time some providers thought the thing to fix was my "homosexuality". Their attempts at conversion therapy failed, only further risking my life. We understand so much more about what can help similar youth now, why would we not want to give them the best available care?” asks Dr. Scout. "Trans youth are already surviving and thriving in an incredibly hostile environment, making it more hostile is a disservice to these amazing young people."

Dr. NFN Scout
National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network
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