Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation
This order is positive for federalism insofar as it ends federal agency pressure on states to cover these procedures as part of their Medicaid programs, as well as threats to find health care providers in violation of anti-discrimination provisions under section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act if they didn’t go along. The order also seeks to prosecute sex organ surgeries performed on minor females who cross state lines for them as violations of federal law prohibiting female genital mutilation. This is within the federal purview given current jurisprudence regarding interstate commerce powers. Similarly, the order applies the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act to parents who transport their children, without the consent of the other parent, to “sanctuary states” for gender-altering procedures. This appears to be a legitimate use of federal authority in instances where states are not honoring parenthood rights conferred by other states.
What to watch: The order directs U.S. Health and Human Services to “take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children, including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions.” This may simply translate into a recission of Biden-era directives pressuring states, but some agencies may interpret it to mean that they should condition federal funds on state bans of these procedures. Agencies might also interpret a provision of this order to require cancellation of federal research and education grants to hospitals and medical schools that continue these practices, even if their funding to do so comes from non-federal sources. The order also incorporates a mirror-image of Biden-era threats to prosecute pro-life pregnancy crisis counselors for fraud, only this time targeted at those who advocate medical gender alteration. Advocates for federalism will argue that determinations of fraud in both instances are better left to state authorities.
Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation – The White House
January 24, 2025