Last week, NYU Langone Health abruptly terminated its Transgender Youth Health Program — a decision that left patients and their parents scrambling to find new means of gender-affirming care. The program’s removal follows the Trump administration’s December threats to block all Medicare and Medicaid funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors, including treatments like hormone therapy and puberty blockers.
For years, NYU Langone has offered programs that help provide a safe haven for transgender youth. To see such a prominent institution crumble under federal pressure is frankly embarrassing and unacceptable. However, this is not the first time the hospital has caved to threats affecting their transgender patients: Last January, Langone began canceling patients’ appointments after President Donald Trump made his first threat to pull funding if they continued to provide gender-affirming care. In response, protests erupted and New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that this was in violation of the state’s anti-discrimination laws and ordered the hospital to restore their patients’ appointments.
But NYU Langone is capable of taking action. In December, NYU joined a coalition with nine other medical centers to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare funding cuts, which disproportionately affect low-income, senior patients. It begs the question of why the federal government did not face similar resistance when it threatened to cut Medicare in retaliation for offering gender-affirming services. NYU Langone’s willingness to comply also risks a domino effect among smaller hospitals which lack the resources to fight back, forcing them to follow suit. As hospitals across the country face mounting pressure to shut down their programs, transgender youth are left deprived of necessary medical attention.
While representing about 1% of the population as of Aug. 2025, the transgender community is frequently targeted by the Trump administration with unnecessary cruelty. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likened gender-affirming procedures to “chemical and surgical mutilation of children,” pushing the National Institutes of Health to specifically research those who “regret” transitioning as adults and minors. 27 states have already banned gender-affirming procedures, forcing patients to cross state lines for medical attention — the median distance of the patients included in the study had to travel was 191 miles to receive gender affirming care, ranging from two and half to three and a half hours by car. Banning gender affirming care will not eliminate the transgender community, it will only burden those struggling with gender dysphoria.
The Trump administration continually trivializes gender-affirming care. In a campaign speech, President Trump warned that children go to school and return as another gender without their parents’ consent, attempting to paint these medical procedures as frivolous. On the contrary, most of those who undergo such transitions are aware of its significance and risks.
Studies found that transgender or nonbinary adolescents with access to hormones and puberty blockers experienced 60% less moderate to severe depression and 73% less self-harm or suicidal thoughts compared to youth without access. In 2022, The Trevor Project also found that two-thirds of its transgender and nonbinary youth reported symptoms of depression, nearly half considered suicide and just under 15% attempted suicide. Even instances where people changed their name or gender on their drivers’ license were reported to positively affect mental health. The criminalization and villainization of the transgender community not only deprives them medical access, but also of social gratification.
Between cutting university research funding, vetoing clean water bills and now leaving hospitals with no choice but to terminate gender-affirming care, the Trump administration relentlessly weaponizes our taxpayer dollars against anything that does not fit its agenda. NYU Langone and other institutions must step up and take legal action against the administration while staying firm in their decision to provide care to those in need before choosing to give up without a fight. To operate as a hospital is to protect and care for all — not those listed in a political agenda.
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