Michigan state rep vows to help 'trans kids' get sex change drugs after hospital shutters gender clinic

After the University of Michigan announced that they would no longer perform sex changes on children, Rep. Carrie Rheingans, a Democrat state senator, said that she would facilitate the distribution of sex change drugs to Michigan children. This comes after the Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding from hospitals that continue to provide drugs and surgeries to minors seeking to appear as the opposite sex.

"Hey," she said in her video, while wearing a "protect trans kids" hoodie, "State Rep. Carrie Rheingans here, and I am recording a video today to talk to you, trans kids here in Michigan. I want you to know that the care you might want for gender affirming care is legal in Michigan, and it's still continuing in a wide variety of places."

"You may have heard that the University of Michigan is going to stop doing some of the safe and effective care. They're choosing to do that," she said. "The grown-ups at the University of Michigan Hospital are not under court order or anything, they are choosing to stop providing this care because they're scared of losing millions and millions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid, which pay a lot of services at the University of Michigan.

"And if they don't get those dollars, they can't provide any care to anybody," she explained. "But I want you to know, as trans kids here in Michigan, that this care is obviously safe and effective, that's why it's been approved and why it's been used all across the country and continues to be used."

Many hospitals across the US have closed down their gender clinics rather than try to fight to retain much-needed funding in light of the Trump administration's ban on sex changes for minors and anyone under 19 years old.

The reason that the Trump administration has said that they would remove federal funding for hospitals that continue to provide sex changes for minors is because it turns out that it's neither safe nor effective treatment for the ailment of a child believing they were meant to be the opposite sex.

In recent years, many young people who went on puberty blockers then cross sex hormones and underwent surgery to remove body parts that were not congruent with their desired appearance have detransitioned, meaning that they have realized that they can never actually be the opposite sex.

Puberty blockers are not reversible, they stunt growth. Cross sex hormones can reduce or destroy sexual function and fertility. While the Biden administration told people to trans their kids, the Trump administration has taken the opposite approach, advising parents and medical professionals to help kids live in their own bodies, without drastic medical interventions.

"So if you need to find a new place to get care, it is still legal here in Michigan, and reach out to our office. We'll be able to connect you to what might still be available in our community. And there's also new support coming online for parents and families, so please contact our office.

"We love you, we are really supportive of you as kids, and we wanna make sure that you can grow up and thrive here in Michigan," she concluded.