Children’s National Hospital ends trans hormone prescriptions

Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. will stop offering prescriptions for cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers by Aug. 30, according to an announcement on the hospital’s website. The hospital said increasing legal and regulatory risks spurred the change. Mental health counseling and other services for children who identify as LGBT will remain available, the hospital said. The hospital’s care teams were working directly to support families of current patients affected by the change, it said.

The hospital’s Gender Development Program webpage is topped with the announcement, though it’s not clear when the hospital first issued the information. The program was one of the first of its kind to be founded, according to its website.

What risks was the hospital referring to in its statement? The Justice Department on July 9 sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in so-called child gender transition, though it’s unclear if Children’s National was among them. President Trump in January also signed an executive order directing federal agencies to stop federal funding to providers offering such procedures for patients under the age of 19. A U.S. district judge temporarily blocked that executive order in February while litigation proceeds.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on how a federal court blocked Washington state’s new confession law.