Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Military Family 'Scared' By New Transgender Rule. Physicians Group Says 'Deficiency' Label Is Unfair
NPR: How The Trump Administration's Transgender Troop Ban Is Affecting One Military Family
Lt. Col. Bree "B" Fram left a doctor's office on April 2. Presenting that day as Bryan, the name given to them at birth, B should have been relieved. "Overall, it's a good thing," said B. "It just didn't feel great to have to do it on someone else's timeline other than my own." "It" was an official diagnosis of gender dysphoria. As a transgender member of the military, B had to secure the diagnosis by April 12 in order to continue serving openly. That's when the Trump administration's new policy on transgender military service takes effect. It effectively bans transgender people from joining the military. The more than 14,000 already serving will be allowed to do so openly, so long as they have that formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria filed by the deadline. If not, they must serve under the gender assigned them at birth - or leave the armed forces. (Hodges and Chang, 4/11)
The Associated Press: Medical Association Blasts Military's Transgender Policy
A Trump administration regulation set to go into effect Friday bars transgender people from the military unless they “correct those deficiencies,” a description the American Medical Association said Thursday is unfair and defies science. The AMA told The Associated Press on Thursday the policy and its wording mischaracterizes transgender people as having a “deficiency.” It said it also objects to the Defense Department classifying the need to transition to another gender among “administratively disqualifying conditions” that include those the Pentagon has labeled as “congenital or developmental defects.” (Watson and Crary, 4/11)
