For more thn a year, the Trump administration has taken both sledgehammer and scalpel to the wellbeing of transgender people —especially transgender youth.
In his first month in office, Trump issued the grotesquely titled executive order Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, designed to shut down medically necessary care for transgender adolescents nationwide.
The administration quickly followed with threatening letters to health care providers and demands for sensitive patient information, including here in Connecticut. In response, Connecticut Children’s and Yale New Haven Health pre-emptively shut down their gender-affirming care programs out of fear of subpoenas, federal funding cuts, or even criminal liability.
Families —many of whom moved to Connecticut as domestic refugees from hostile states— were left scrambling for care. The mother of a trans adolescent, newly arrived from Tennessee, told the New York Times: “It just kind of feels like people are yanking away chairs like in this musical-chair nightmare for kids.” Some now wonder whether they will ultimately need to leave the country.
It’s important to say clearly: nothing in federal law required Connecticut hospitals to act as they did. Many providers across the state have continued to give necessary, evidence-based care with love and respect. But the truth is unavoidable: even in Connecticut, gender-affirming care—and the broader principle of bodily autonomy —is in real peril.
The administration’s campaign reached crescendo late last year when officials theatrically proposed new rules that would prohibit Medicaid and CHIP coverage of evidence-based, medically necessary gender-affirming care; and bar hospitals that provide gender-affirming care from participating in Medicare and Medicaid. We are in the midst of a 60-day public comment period on these proposals, which also no doubt will be challenged in court.
Why everyone should care: this will not stop with transgender youth
The current attacks on trans adolescents are not isolated. They are a test run. The political machinery being used today —weaponizing federal agencies, threatening providers, demanding private medical records, attempting to cut hospitals off from Medicare and Medicaid —is a blueprint for restricting or eliminating:
- Abortion and reproductive health care
- Contraception and IVF
- PrEP and HIV prevention
- Vaccines and public health interventions
- Disability and autism services
- End-of-life care
If the federal government can rip away evidence-based care from one group, it will come after the next. Bodily autonomy is not divisible. The targeting of immigrant communities is part of the same project: controlling bodies through fear and punishment rather than care.
This is not speculation. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is preparing new regulations that would ban Medicaid and CHIP coverage for gender-affirming care for anyone under 18 and prohibit any hospital providing that care from participating in Medicare or Medicaid at all. It would be one of the most sweeping federal attacks on medical autonomy in modern history.
Connecticut has the chance — and the responsibility— to lead
Connecticut already has a strong foundation of political, public, and practical support for transgender people. Attorney General William Tong helped lead the multistate challenge to the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict access to necessary care. Gov. Ned Lamont has repeatedly affirmed support for transgender residents. HUSKY covers gender-affirming care for adolescents. Our anti-discrimination laws are among the strongest in the country.
But this moment requires more than maintaining the status quo. Connecticut should model what it looks like to defend both transgender youth and the broader principle of medical self-determination. The state can build a blueprint that other states can replicate —one that includes policy, legal protections, funding, and public mobilization.
A meaningful state effort to keep gender-affirming care accessible should lead with strong legislative and policy safeguards that protect patients, families, and providers from political interference, legal intimidation, and the misuse of personal medical information. Connecticut should continue to fortify its legal framework so that care decisions remain between patients, families, and medical professionals —not politicians or out-of-state actors—and so that the right to bodily autonomy is grounded as securely as possible in state law.
But legislation is not enough. Protecting healthcare also requires broad public understanding and sustained community engagement. Connecticut must invest in public education explaining that gender-affirming care is safe, evidence-based, and often lifesaving, while supporting partnerships among healthcare providers, schools, and community organizations to counter misinformation. The state should also strengthen community-based and trans-led efforts that support youth and families directly and ensure that people know where to turn for care, information, and help. Ultimately, lasting protection will come from an informed, mobilized public that is prepared to speak out for the dignity and health of their neighbors.
Connecticut can show the nation what leadership looks like
At this moment, Connecticut can demonstrate that safety, privacy, dignity, and medical autonomy are non-negotiable. We can reject the federal government’s attempt to dictate deeply personal healthcare decisions. And we can send a clear message to every family seeking safety: You belong here. Your children belong here.
Matthew Blinstrubas is Executive Director of Equality Connecticut.