Youth Gender Care Protest Erupts as UPMC Halts Services

Protesters on Sunday condemned UPMC for cutting gender-affirming care for people under 19, warning it risks lives and worsens health disparities.

Why it matters:

The cuts leave LGBTQ+ youth in Western Pennsylvania with fewer health care options and leave local providers unable to deliver care they believe is medically necessary, protesters said.

• Studies find
  that gender-affirming care is associated with lower odds of depression and
  risk of suicide
  .

Zoom in:

Demonstrators, including UPMC providers and elected officials, gathered in front of UPMC’s headquarters in Downtown, asking the health care system to reverse its decision.

What they’re saying:

Katherine Anderson, a behavioral health therapist at UPMC, said hospital leaders have warned staff to expect a surge in transgender teens struggling with mental health following the move.

• She said UPMC plans to launch an intensive outpatient program to support the “hundreds of trans teens” currently in its care.
• “As if mental health care could ever replace vital medical care,” Anderson said, adding that nearly 400 UPMC workers have signed an open letter asking their employer to reverse course.

Catch up quick:

The region’s largest health provider is
phasing out
gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for people under 19.

• A UPMC spokesperson in a statement said the service cuts are necessary to comply with federal directives, citing the risk of criminal prosecution.
• UPMC says it will continue offering behavioral health support “within the bounds of the law.”
• “We empathize deeply with the patients and families affected by these ongoing changes,” UPMC said in a statement.

Context:

President Trump in January signed an
executive order
pushing stricter limits on gender-affirming care and threatening to cut federal funding to providers, a move reinforced by Justice Department directives.

The other side:

Protesters said the order created no new law and noted that a federal judge temporarily blocked its enforcement, accusing UPMC of preemptively cutting services, a stance backed by the Pennsylvania ACLU.

The latest:

The Supreme Court
last week
upheld Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans youth. More than half of U.S. states restrict such care, but Pennsylvania does not,
per KFF
.

Flashback:

UPMC
restored
parts of its LGBTQ+ health information online with revised language after
removing
content in May. The updated language says federal directives prohibit UPMC from providing gender-affirming care to those under 19.

Zoom out:

Hospitals
across the country
are steadily reshaping LGBTQ+ health services as they navigate
tentative
Trump administration orders targeting
gender-affirming
care and
race-based equity
programs.

What’s next:

City Councilwoman Barb Warwick on Tuesday
proposed legislation
classifying medical care denials based on gender identity or expression as discrimination, allowing patients to file complaints with the city’s Commission on Human Relations.

• TransYOUniting is
  fundraising
  for those affected by the move.