Four House Democrats joined Republicans to pass a bill halting federal Medicaid funding of sex change surgeries and medications for minors on Thursday.
Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw sponsored the bill, the “Do No Harm In Medicaid Act,” alongside Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The legislation, if passed by the Senate, would amend the Social Security Act to stop federal Medicaid payments to states for “specified gender procedures” — including surgical bans and pharmaceutical restrictions — performed on individuals under the age of 18.
Thursday’s bill passed the house 215-201, with four Democrats joining a unified GOP: Texas Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, North Carolina Rep. Don Davis, and Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
The House passed a similar bill one day earlier, that was also sponsored by Greene and targeted child sex change procedures.
Thursday’s legislation saw slightly broader support than Wednesday’s measure, with five lawmakers voting against the Wednesday bill but for the one specifically addressing Medicaid dollars: Gluesenkamp Perez, as well as Republican Reps. Gabe Evans of Colorado, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Kennedy of Utah and Mike Lawler of New York.
Crenshaw argued on the House floor Thursday that his bill would halt federal funding for surgeries and puberty blockers, among other treatments, which he said are ineffective in reducing suicide among minors affected by “gender dysphoria.”
“Today’s great sin in medicine is perhaps one of the worst that we’ve seen in human history: Sick and twisted ideology paired with a social media fueled social contagion that has actually normalized the ultimate lie, which is that biological gender does not matter and can even be changed,” Crenshaw said. “Irreversible treatments on children who need therapy is wrong … your constituents know that kids are too young to understand the consequences of permanent physiological changes … you can rest assured that they definitely don’t want their tax dollars to pay for it.”
Democratic New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone referred to child sex changes as “medically necessary health care” when arguing against Crenshaw and Greene’s bill on the House floor Thursday.
“[The bill] is an extreme attack on medically necessary health care for children. The bill bans Medicaid funding for gender affirming care for minors and strips states of even more Medicaid funding if they choose to cover this medically necessary care with their own state dollars,” Pallone said.
The issue of child sex changes has been a focus of President Donald Trump during his second term. On Jan. 28, Trump signed an Executive Order titled, “Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation.” On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed new regulations on the issue in response to the January order.
“Under my leadership, and answering President Trump’s call to action, the federal government will do everything in its power to stop unsafe, irreversible practices that put our children at risk,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said in a Thursday press release. “This Administration will protect America’s most vulnerable. Our children deserve better—and we are delivering on that promise.”
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