The Gender Health Clinic at Children’s Wisconsin hospital in Milwaukee reinstated gender-affirming care for a transgender teenager after initially canceling the appointment in early February.
This was the first documented case of a Wisconsin-based hospital refusing to perform gender-affirming care after President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking federal funding for hospitals that provide such treatments, according to Wisconsin Watch. The order has since been paused by two federal judges, according to NPR.
After Wisconsin Watch published their article on Children’s Wisconsin pausing gender-affirming care, the teenage patient’s family received a call informing them that the appointment would be rescheduled for later in the same week, according to Wausau Pilot & Review.
There has been public outrage in both the medical field as well as the public sphere after the executive order was announced. The Trump Administration was sued by a group of doctors and families who claim the order to be discriminatory and unlawful.
On Feb. 13, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and 14 other attorney generals publicly denounced Trump’s order. The group released a joint statement calling attention to a recent court order which affirmed that the Trump Administration cannot halt funding through administrative memos or executive orders.
But the reality is that trans healthcare is in no way guaranteed protected. The proof lies in the actions of Gender Health Clinic at Children’s Wisconsin Hospital in Milwaukee.
Sarah Moskonas, the teenage patient’s mother, reported her 13-year-old daughter as previously approved for hormone therapy by New Year’s Eve — a treatment the family had been working toward for almost a decade. Sarah’s daughter has been in therapy for gender identity since she was only five years old and has been on puberty blockers for three years, according to Wausau Pilot & Review.
Moskonas received a call on Jan. 31 informing her that Children’s Wisconsin would be unable to move forward with hormone therapy. When she asked if this was due to the executive order, she was told that it was, according to Wisconsin Watch.
Gender-affirming care, like the treatment Moskonas was seeking, is the only evidence-based treatment for gender dysphoria, and it is endorsed by every major medical association nationwide, according to Wisconsin Watch.
Studies have shown that gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers, have been reported to significantly benefit mental health outcomes in transgender youth. Gender-affirming medical interventions were associated with lower rates of depression and suicidal ideation, according to a study conducted by the National Library of Medicine.
Research consolidated by The Trevor Project further indicates gender-affirming care, specifically for gender-diverse youth, significantly improves mental health outcomes. Among the studies explored, data shows that puberty suppression was associated with decreased behavioral and emotional problems, as well as decreased symptoms of depression in trans and nonbinary children ages 12 to 16.
Additionally, transgender individuals who underwent puberty suppression as adolescents have much lower rates of suicidal ideation during their lifetime compared to those who wanted the treatment, but weren’t able to get it, according to the National Library of Medicine.
The prevalence of mental health issues is statistically higher in transgender individuals than in cisgender individuals, according to the National Library of Medicine, presumably due to a lack of information and education regarding the trans experience. Additionally, studies show transgender youth are more at risk than their cisgender peers to experience violence, substance use and sexual abuse, according to the CDC.
There is a strong societal narrative that minors will regret the gender-affirming treatments they receive as they get older. But evidence suggests that less than 1% of transgender people who received gender-affirming care reported feeling regret. This statistic is especially interesting when compared with the percentage of the broader population that reported regret after similar surgeries – 14.4%, according to The Conversation.
For example, between 5-14% of all women who receive mastectomies to reduce the risk of breast cancer development reported regretting their treatment, while less than 1% of trans men who received the same treatment reported regret.
Regret is not easy to measure and record for as it has the potential to change with time, but there are reasons for the rates of trans individuals receiving care being statistically low. Gender-affirming care is not a procedure that is easy to receive, involving jumping through numerous hoops including waiting periods, hormone therapy and learning about potential risks and rewards, according to the International Journal of Transgender Health. This thorough and extensive process could be one reason why the regret rate is so low – patients have more than enough time to consider their decision.
President Trump’s executive orders banning federal funding for gender affirmation is nothing short of discriminatory, but it is not the first nor will it be the last attack on the trans community during this presidential administration. It has never been more important to speak up and get out there. Your actions have an impact. The evidence is in the reinstatement of Moskonas’ treatment after Children’s Wisconsin saw backlash due to journalism and corrected its actions.
Had journalists not cared enough to report, or had the public not cared enough to read and engage, that 13-year-old individual, and many others like them, would be at risk of unfortunate mental health outcomes.
Alexia Becker (abecker@badgerherald.com) is a junior studying English literature.
