| Earlier this month, the US Department of Health and Human Services heard public comments on a proposed set of rules that would effectively ban gender-affirming care nationwide. RFK Jr.’s HHS would make it a condition of Medicaid and Medicare that institutions receiving that funding would no longer be able to provide this necessary care for trans youth. This condition of participation would also apply to the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Like we’ve seen with abortion restrictions, these types of bans on gender-affirming care are a way for conservatives to block access to essential services under the guise that they don’t want their tax dollars being used for things they don’t agree with. Meanwhile, the rest of us are paying the salaries of murderers and their MAGA brethren in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agencies, and soon we’ll have to file our federal taxes to fill their coffers. If we’re picking and choosing what we get to fund, where do we sign up for defunding ICE? Thankfully, the Democrats in Congress are attempting to minimize the harm they are doing by blocking funding to the Department of Homeland Security until the immigration agencies can be reined in. That also means, at least for now, the government is partially shut down, once again.
In a recent Nation conversation, Gender Liberation Movement cofounder Raquel Willis highlighted why these fights for trans youth are so crucial. “We know that the current administration’s actions to cut off care for trans youth won’t stop there,” says Raquel. “This administration wants to take more and more away from people on the margins, whether you’re trying to afford insulin or mental health medications or simply rely on Medicaid and Medicare to live the full, healthy life you deserve.”
With so many attacks against our fundamental rights at once, it’s easy to overlook some of the most important battles. But we have a responsibility to not disregard young people’s plight. And, as Raquel explained, there are a number of things we can each do to shield them from these attacks: |
