Brace for impact—Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dropped a bombshell, unveiling a hardline stance against transgender procedures for minors with the full backing of the Trump administration.
According to Breitbart, on Thursday, December 18, 2025, Kennedy announced six bold actions to stop what the administration calls harmful sex-rejecting interventions on children, marking a seismic shift from previous policies and aiming to protect young Americans from irreversible damage through federal health program restrictions.
This isn’t just a policy tweak; it’s a direct challenge to the progressive agenda’s embrace of unproven medical trends, prioritizing science over ideology in a way that’s long overdue for many concerned families.
Per a press release, HHS is acting on President Donald Trump’s Executive Order to halt procedures that the administration deems dangerous and permanent for children, a move driven by evidence of lasting harm.
Kennedy didn’t hold back, slamming major medical bodies like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics for pushing the notion that such chemical and surgical interventions help kids struggling with gender dysphoria.
He noted that an estimated 300,000 American teens aged 13 to 17 are impacted by these practices—a staggering figure that begs the question of how many lives might be altered under misguided medical advice.
One key action involves the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issuing a proposed rule to ban hospitals from conducting these interventions on those under 18 as a requirement for participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Since nearly every hospital in the nation is tied to these federal programs, this effectively ensures taxpayer dollars won’t bankroll practices the administration views as causing irreversible damage, citing authority under specific Social Security Act provisions.
“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions performed on them, that carry life-altering risks with no reliable evidence of benefit,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz declared—a sharp rebuke to those who champion untested theories over tangible well-being.
Kennedy himself signed a declaration, backed by a recent HHS peer-reviewed study, stating these procedures fail to meet accepted health care standards, meaning practitioners doing them on minors are out of compliance.
Further, HHS is actively working to undo a prior administration’s push to classify gender dysphoria as a disability, a stark contrast to the tenure of Rachel Levine, who, as Assistant Secretary for Health, advocated for these interventions as necessary and safe.
“We’re done with junk science driven by ideological pursuits — not the well-being of children,” Kennedy asserted, a line in the sand against policies that seem more about cultural trends than protecting the vulnerable, as a recent HHS report confirms the medical risks and lasting harm.
This shift marks a clear break from past federal approaches, where support for such procedures was framed as compassionate, despite lacking robust evidence of benefit for young patients.
The administration’s stance, grounded in a peer-reviewed analysis from last month by HHS, highlights the dangers these interventions pose, aiming to steer the health care system back to its core mission of safeguarding lives. While debates over gender and medicine will undoubtedly rage on, this decisive action signals a return to prioritizing hard data over narrative-driven care—a move that, though controversial, seeks to shield kids from irreversible choices, even if it means ruffling feathers in medical circles long swayed by progressive ideals.