Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered one of New York City’s largest hospitals to resume providing sex change drugs to minors after the hospital decided to stop its transgender youth program, citing pressure from the Trump administration.
James sent a letter to NYU Langone on Feb. 25 claiming that the hospital’s decision to end its “Transgender Youth Health Program” is “jeopardizing” health care access for vulnerable people in the state, the New York Post reported on Tuesday. The letter threatened further action if the hospital does not comply.
“NYU Langone appears to be suddenly and indefinitely cancelling transgender children’s future appointments thereby jeopardizing access to medically necessary healthcare for some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers,” the letter reportedly read.
NYU Langone ended its program last month after President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed rules that would pull federal funds from hospitals that provide sex-mutilating drugs and surgeries to minors.
“Given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program,” the hospital’s statement read.
NYU Langone added that it is “committed to helping patients in our care manage this change” and said its pediatric mental health care programs will continue.
James claimed that the hospital’s decision to end the program violates the state’s anti-discrimination law because the hospital voluntarily ended the program.
“NYU Langone’s change in policy is self-imposed; there has been no change in federal law to require the cessation of medically necessary transgender healthcare,” the letter reads.
James’s health care bureau chief Darsana Srinivasan said the HHS’s proposal did not change federal law and should not have impacted the hospital’s actions.
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“The sudden discontinuation of medically necessary transgender healthcare can have severe, negative health outcomes,” Srinivasan wrote in the letter, which she reportedly signed. “Accordingly, the Attorney General is extremely concerned by your institution’s decision to cease the provision of care to this vulnerable, minority population.”
James told the hospital it has until March 11 to reverse course before facing “further action.” The letter did not detail what actions could be taken, according to the report.
NYU Langone did not respond to the Post’s request for comment by time of publication.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
