HHS Issues Final Demand to Medical Organizations to Answer for Sex-Rejecting Procedures for Minors

WASHINGTON, D.C.-OCTOBER 14, 2026-The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today sent letters to leading medical organizations requesting that they state clearly whether they continue to support sex-rejecting procedures for minors and account for the evidence-base and HHS reports showing the harms these interventions inflict on minors in their guidance and position statements.

The letters were sent to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, Endocrine Society, and others.

"When medical organizations set standards that shape the care of children, they have a responsibility to explain the evidence behind those standards," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "HHS has asked these organizations for clear answers about their current positions, the evidence supporting their guidance, and whether they intend to change it. Parents and clinicians deserve transparency, and we expect these organizations to provide it."

HHS previously requested a substantive response from these organizations regarding their positions on sex-rejecting procedures for children and any planned updates to their guidance or position statements.

The Department is now requesting a clear statement of the current position of these organizations on sex-rejecting procedures for minors, identification of any planned revisions to their respective guidance, and a timeline for those changes. HHS expects a written response within 10 business days.

Today's action is the latest step in the Trump Administration's sustained effort to protect children from sex-rejecting procedures and bring transparency and accountability to so-called "gender medicine" in pediatric care. HHS has moved to bar hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid from performing these procedures on children and prohibit federal Medicaid and CHIP funding for them; exposed potentially fraudulent insurance coding associated with sex-rejecting procedures on minors; and released research examining ideological influences associated with support for these clinical practices.

Organizations that set standards of care and medical guidelines for children and shape accepted medical practice have a responsibility to answer for the consequences of their guidance. The Trump Administration will make sure they do.

Text of the letters can be found here: