Penn Medicine no longer offers surgical procedures that affirm gender to patients under 19, confirmed the health system to NBC Philadelphia on Thursday.
“As a result of the current orientation established by the federal government, Penn Medicine may no longer provide surgical procedures that affirm the genre for patients under 19 years,” said PJ Brennan, medical director of Penn Medicine, in a statement.
According to Brennan, this change refers specifically to the surgical procedures that affirm the genre in plastic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, urology and otolaryngology.
“This is a difficult decision that we know that patients already impact families who trust our care teams. We remain deeply committed to guaranteeing a respectful and cozy environment for all members of the communities to which we serve and providing medical care and integral behavioral health and psychosocial support for people LGBTQ+, while the requirements of the federal government,” said Brennan.
The procedures and attention affirmed by the genre have been an objective of the Trump administration, and the president signed an executive order in January that ordered the agencies to stop subsidies and funds that could be used for the attention affirmed by the genre for people under 19.
The member of the City Councilor of Philadelphia, Rue Landau, criticized the decision, saying: “It is extremely annoying and disturbing to see Penn react to it, especially when so many people in the institution have said that we are going to stay strong and we will continue doing this all the time we can.”
“This is important. This is the medical attention we provide. The medical care that saves life for young people. That is what it is,” he added.
The announcement also occurs after the Trump administration accused the University of Pennsylvania in April of violating laws that guarantee equal opportunities in athletics by letting a transgender swimmer compete in the women’s team of the school and access to team facilities.
The Trump administration did not appoint Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the school in 2022 and was the first openly transgender athlete to win a title of division I that year, but Thomas was the focus of the investigation initiated by the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education of the United States in February.
The Trump administration has also suspended approximately $ 175 million in federal funds for Penn for its decision to let Thomas compete.
This story first appeared at NBC Philadelphia.
