If it goes into effect, the Order directs agencies not to provide federal funding to “medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals,” that provide gender-affirming care to kids under 19. Similarly, the Order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to review laws like the Affordable Care Act to attempt to restrict gender-affirming care, according to The 19th. It would also mean recipients of Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE for military families would be unable to get youth gender-affirming care covered through that insurance, the AP reports.
The Order also directs the Department of Justice to investigate states that protect access to gender-affirming care, and to remove children from custody of parents who help them access this care.
Activist and journalist Raquel Willis offers crucial advice to trans and nonbinary youth.
Who does it apply to?
The Order is aimed at transgender youth, which it defines as people under that age of 19. That means that trans people who are 18 are impacted by this Order.
What does it mean for you?
Right now, it’s not totally clear. According to the ACLU’s Seldin, the Executive Order doesn’t take effect immediately, and is not law.
“Executive Orders are not the law; it’s a directive from the White House to agencies as to how they’re supposed to administer and interpret the law so, with rare exceptions, they don’t have immediate effect,” Seldin tells Teen Vogue. “This Executive Order directs agencies to take certain actions within the next weeks and months, and at that point, we will know more [about] what agencies are planning to do in terms of actually restricting care.”
While the Order doesn’t immediately stop funding to hospitals or other organizations that provide gender-affirming care, Seldin says fear about what’s to come might prompt some institutions to prematurely restrict care.
“This Executive Order, along with all the other Executive Orders, have clearly created a climate of fear where private actors are complying in advance in ways that they do not need to,” Seldin says. “So while we certainly hope that folks will wait and watch carefully to see what the agencies do next, it is possible that private actors will start to act on their own accord. That is what is concerning, in addition to the action we may see coming down the line.”
Seldin says early interruptions in care happened when some state-level gender-affirming care bans took effect, noting that some “clinics over-complied, or complied in advance,” restricting care that didn’t legally need to be restricted. He does expect that to happen because of this Executive Order, particularly as institutions figure out what it will mean for them.
“We are on the lookout for folks who are experiencing interruptions in care,” Seldin says. “That’s our hope that that’s not going to happen, but it’s possible.”
What can you do right now:
If you’re a young trans person who receives gender-affirming care, Seldin says you should make sure your prescriptions are filled and that you are up to date on your appointments, you should call your doctor and ask what their plan is, and you should make a plan for what might happen if you can’t access care.
