By Dan Bartkowiak,
More than $33 million in Pennsylvania taxpayer funds have been used to pay for thousands of children receiving sex-rejecting procedures over the past decade. This comes as state lawmakers consider legislation that would prohibit these harmful practices and federal policy continues to shift.
In response to a Right-to-Know request from the PA Family Institute, updated records obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services indicate that Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have paid more than $33.6 million since 2015 for services related to “sex reassignment and transition related services and drugs” for individuals aged 18 and younger. The spending includes coverage for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
Half of this total ($16.6 million) has been covered since Governor Josh Shapiro became governor.
The medical community is beginning to recognize detransitioners, who are those harmed by these procedures and are now speaking out. Recently, the Cleveland Clinic reached a groundbreaking settlement, agreeing to a 20-year ban on sex-rejecting treatments for minors and to providing treatments for patients who were harmed by these procedures and now want to reclaim their real identity.
There are now 27 states that have passed “Help Not Harm” laws preventing children from being subjected to experimental drugs and irreversible surgeries.
Pennsylvania is not one of those 27 states. Legislation sponsored by PA State Sen. Chris Gebhard (R-Berks) and Sen. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson), Senate Bill 1321, would prohibit state funding for sex-rejecting procedures for minors through Medicaid and CHIP. This bill passed last May from the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee with bipartisan support.
On January 28, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring, “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.”
More recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced actions intended to prevent hospitals receiving federal funds from performing sex-rejecting procedures on minors and proposed changes affecting Medicaid reimbursement for those harmful procedures.
However, that federal position has become less certain in recent days.
According to NPR, HHS has since stepped back from a proposed rule that would require hospitals to prohibit sex-rejecting procedures for children in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
This development should prompt renewed attention on state-level efforts, including Pennsylvania’s Senate Bill 1321 and the Do No Harm Act (SB843), as no taxpayer should be forced to fund these harmful procedures on children.
“These procedures carry life-altering risks and lack reliable evidence demonstrating long-term benefits for children,” said Sen. Chris Gebhard, chairman of the PA Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. “It is vital we protect minors from irreversible harm they cannot fully understand or consent to.”
