Although gender-affirming care for minors remains legal in many states and federally, Virginia Commonwealth University Health has suspended gender-affirming care treatments for patients under 19, citing President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting transgender Americans’ access to health care.
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“VCU Health and Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU have suspended gender-affirming medication and gender-affirming surgical procedures for those under 19 years old in response to a White House executive order and clear guidance from the state provided to VCU,” a hospital spokesperson told The Advocate in an email. “We are committed to ensuring that we’re always delivering care in accordance with the law. Appointments will be maintained to discuss specific care options for patients in compliance with the most recent guidance.”
The Richmond-based medical center joins other hospitals—including Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Denver Health in Colorado—that have halted care following Trump’s latest anti-trans policy.
Related: Trump signs executive order banning federal support of gender-affirming care for anyone under 19
Trump’s Tuesday executive order, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” is the administration’s latest attack on transgender people, falsely framing gender-affirming care as “mutilation.” The directive orders federal agencies to strip funding from institutions that provide this care, rescind medical guidance supporting transgender health, and investigate providers. It also targets military families by barring TRICARE from covering gender-affirming care for minors and requires the Office of Personnel Management to cut insurance coverage for transgender-related treatments under federal employee health plans.
While the order does not explicitly ban gender-affirming care nationwide, it effectively pushes hospitals to abandon services by eliminating federal support and introducing legal risks. The result: transgender youth in states like Virginia are being left without access to medically necessary care despite no legal requirement for hospitals to stop treatment.
The sweeping nature of the order has already thrown families into crisis. Gay Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, told The Advocate that he is already hearing from constituents who are experiencing the effects of the policy.
“I think we have to be honest with the public in this and share that we don’t know where it’s going,” Garcia said. “We should just expect chaos and cruelty. And I’ve been telling folks that all week.”
Garcia recounted a conversation with the mother of a transgender child who relies on Department of Veterans Affairs benefits for health care. He said she is already facing obstacles as bureaucratic resistance begins to take shape.
“They’re already getting some pushback, and it’s just really sad,” Garcia said. “It’s hard to have answers to help people and respond appropriately because we don’t know what they plan on doing. But what’s clear is they’re going to defund and try to strip away and scare organizations and nonprofits and agencies from helping trans people, from helping immigrants, from helping organizations that believe in diversity and equity. It’s disgusting.”
Garcia said he hopes the public understands what’s happening and takes action. “I hope people get mad and angry and push back and fight back, and that’s going to be really important,” he said.
Medical experts overwhelmingly agree that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, and medically necessary. Leading organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, support its use for transgender youth, citing research that shows it reduces depression, anxiety, and suicide risk.
Despite Trump’s attempt to dismantle access, legal advocates emphasize that gender-affirming care for minors remains legal in Virginia. However, advocates say that hospitals like VCU Health choose to deny treatment preemptively.
Wyatt Rolla, senior transgender rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, clarified that the executive order does not prevent hospitals from continuing to provide care.
“Gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19 is still legal in Virginia, and no executive order can change that,” Rolla told The Advocate in a statement. “By trying to scare providers into halting the critical services they’ve provided for decades, Trump’s executive order is simply another misguided, extreme attempt to will trans people out of existence. But trans people have been and always will be part of our communities, and the many Virginia providers that remain committed to providing them vital care can’t be cowed into preemptively complying with the administration’s hateful agenda.”
At a White House briefing on Friday afternoon, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on the administration’s position, stating that Trump’s executive order marked “the official policy of the federal government that there are only two sexes, male and female, and we have directed all federal agencies to comply with that policy.” Leavitt defended the sweeping action, calling gender-affirming medical care “barbaric,” and suggested the administration would support congressional legislation restricting such treatments.
“The president has already taken a very strong stance on this issue this week with the signing of his executive order,” Leavitt said. “Certainly, the president would support Congress’s efforts as he has already made that very clear.”
For transgender youth and their families, VCU Health’s decision raises urgent questions about where to turn for care. VCU did not respond to questions about its decision-making process or what patients who find themselves without care should do.
