Atlanta children's hospital stops sex change services for minors

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will no longer be performing sex change services for minors after the Trump administration increased pressure on healthcare institutions to stop the practices.

Last week, the hospital sent out a message to parents who have allowed their children to get the operations done, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The children's hospital has said that the change is a "system-level decision."

“Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is fully compliant with all statutory provisions enacted in 2023 by Georgia Senate Bill 140 and is taking the necessary steps to comply with applicable federal laws, and we are closely monitoring recent federal government activity, including recent executive orders, to maintain full compliance,” the spokeswoman said in the statement. “Our priority is serving all our patients in a compassionate and caring manner.”

The bill was enacted in 2023 and "prohibit[s] certain surgical procedures for the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors from being performed in hospitals and other licensed healthcare facilities." However, it had two exceptions, allowing for children to start taking puberty blockers as well as allowing those children who had already started cross-sex hormones to continue taking them.

However, as President Donald Trump came into office, he signed an executive order that would pull research funding as well as grants going to institutions that allow for sex change treatments, including puberty blockers as well as cross-sex hormones to be given to minors. Although a judge temporarily blocked the order last month, the hospital has still taken the step to cease the sex change treatments.

The change also comes, however, as a majority of Americans have said they support a federal ban on sex change services for minors, such as puberty blockers as well as cross-sex hormone injections, per Center Square.