Veterans Told To Look Outside The VA For Gender Dysphoria Treatment
Hormone therapy and gender dysphoria treatment will be offered only to those already receiving it. "If veterans want to attempt to change their sex, they can do so on their own dime," VA Secretary Doug Collins said. Meanwhile, a study finds gender-affirming care may lower the risk of depression.
NPR:
VA To Deny Gender Dysphoria Treatment To New Patients
The Department of Veteran Affairs said that, effective immediately, it will no longer offer medical treatment for gender dysphoria to veterans who are not already receiving the treatment from the VA or the Department of Defense. "If Veterans want to attempt to change their sex, they can do so on their own dime," VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a press release Monday announcing the new policy. (Jingnan, 3/17)
The Hill:
Third Challenge Filed To Trump’s Order On Transgender Troops
Two transgender service members are suing the Trump administration over a pair of executive orders targeting transgender Americans and their implementation by the U.S. military. The lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by two transgender men ... argues that President Trump’s executive orders proclaiming the government recognizes only two sexes, male and female, and barring trans people from serving openly in the military subject transgender service members “to unequal, harmful, and demeaning treatment.” (Migdon, 3/17)
KFF Health News:
Her Case Changed Trans Care In Prison. Now Trump Aims To Reverse Course
In 2019, Cristina Iglesias filed a lawsuit that changed the course of treatment for herself and other transgender inmates in federal custody. Iglesias, a trans woman who had been incarcerated for more than 25 years, was transferred from a men’s prison to a women’s one in 2021. And in 2022, she reached a landmark settlement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to receive gender-affirming surgery, which the agency said it had never provided for anyone in its custody. (Sable-Smith, 3/18)
ABC News:
Gender-Affirming Care May Lower Depression Risk, Study Finds, But Many Are Losing Access
Transgender adults who received gender-affirming hormone therapy had a significantly lower risk of moderate-to-severe depression over four years compared to those who did not receive such care, according to a new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open. ... The findings "support the mental health-promoting role of hormones" and their status as "a medically necessary treatment,” said Sari Reisner, an associate professor of epidemiology at University of Michigan School of Public Health and one of the study’s authors. (Gao, 3/17)
Stat:
How One Advocacy Group Is Stepping In To Bolster Transgender Data
Since the first day of his presidency, Donald Trump has targeted transgender communities with executive orders that attempt to limit access to medical care, restrict how people identify on government documents, curb gender-inclusive research, and more. Two months later, Trump’s directive to eliminate “gender ideology” in particular is still reverberating through federal health agencies. (Gaffney, 3/18)
