(HARRISBURG, PA – January 29, 2025) Pennsylvania Family Institute applauds President Donald Trump for halting the use of federal funding and federal insurance to cover chemical and surgical mutilation of children that have harmed thousands of children across our Commonwealth, including kindergartners.

“President Trump’s executive order is a win for the well-being of our young people, as Pennsylvania is one of the worst offenders for chemically and surgically mutilating children,” says Michael Geer, President of the Pennsylvania Family Institute. “Records show hundreds of surgeries and thousands of children have been harmed by these procedures and drugs in Pennsylvania that were shockingly paid for by millions of tax dollars – the vast majority through federal funding.

According to data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services through Right-To-Know requests made by the Pennsylvania Family Institute, from 2015-2023, Pennsylvania is responsible for the following:

  • 4,933 children recipients of “sex reassignment and transition related services and drugs.” In 2015, there were just over 100 children. In 2023, the total ballooned to nearly 2,000.
  • Children as young as age 5 are impacted.
  • 236 permanent surgeries.
  • Over $21 million in taxpayer funding. In 2015, it was just $58,000. In 2023, funding grew to over $5 million.

“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” states President Trump’s executive order.

The executive order includes:

  • U.S. Policy will no longer be informed by the unscientific, ideologically driven WPATH guidelines.
  • A thorough review of scientific literature will be conducted.
  • Any medical institution that performs these harmful procedures will lose federal grants.
  • The federal government will no longer fund these harmful procedures in federal employee medical insurance.
  • Directs the US Attorney General to work with Congress to enact laws that protect children and help families harmed by these destructive procedures.

The executive order does not outright prohibit these harmful procedures as medical professionals may still act when covered by private insurance companies or direct pay. 

Pennsylvania State Senator Judy Ward (R-Blair County) has announced she will introduce the Do No Harm Act, state legislation that would protect all children from these harmful medical interventions. At a press conference last October, Sen. Ward stated, “We don’t allow minors to buy cigarettes or alcohol for a reason. How much longer do we wait before we step up and do something? How many more children will be butchered and allowed to make a decision that they may regret for the rest of their life?”

The vast amount of these types of destructive drugs and procedures were paid for through federal sources. Of the nearly 5,000 children impacted, just fourteen were covered distinctly through PA’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“This is state-sponsored child mutilation that not only should no taxpayer be forced to fund but no child should be subjected to no matter who is paying for it,” stated Geer.

Medical watchdog Do No Harm identified the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as being the nation’s top offending hospital for this type of abusive medical procedures. The problem is also widespread across Pennsylvania, with some of the top offending hospitals along with CHOP including UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Geisinger, Hershey Medical Center and Wellspan Philhaven.

“It’s now looking extremely likely that the ideology that destroyed my childhood and irreversibly altered my body will be completely eradicated,” wrote Chloe Cole, a detransitioner who was subjected to these permanent and destructive interventions. Chloe was prescribed puberty blockers at age 13 following a hasty diagnosis of gender dysphoria. At the young age of 15, she underwent a medically unnecessary double mastectomy.