Advocates warn of harms to trans youth as Corewell Health ends gender affirming care for patients under 18

BY KYLE DAVIDSON, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

Corewell Health on Wednesday announced that it would no longer prescribe puberty blockers and hormone therapy for patients under 18, citing a “serious risk of legal and regulatory action,” as President Donald Trump’s administration works to limit access to gender affirming care for minors.

The decision by Corewell follows the hospital system’s decision to limit gender affirming care for minors earlier this year. It also now joins the University of Michigan as the second health system in the state to cease providing gender affirming care for minors.

“Like many health care systems across the country, we made this decision to protect both our health care providers and our patients,” the health system wrote in a letter obtained by the Michigan Advance. “We will continue to compassionately address the health needs of our patients who are in transition, or wish to transition, including providing mental health support.”

The American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Endocrine Society and other medical organizations have concluded that age-appropriate gender-affirming care is based on evidence and medically necessary.

Several studies have found access to gender affirming care – such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers – are associated with reduced cases of depression, anxiety, suicidality and overall improvements in mental health among trans youth.

Corewell Health said its gender care clinic would continue to see patients, and that they would continue to provide behavioral health, social affirmation and psychosocial support services. The hospital system advised parents who notice any emotional or behavioral changes in their child to contact their mental health provider or primary care provider to schedule an urgent appointment.

As another health system bows to pressure from the Trump administration, Erin Knott, the executive director of Equality Michigan said it was “devastating to see yet another healthcare giant turn its back on transgender youth and their families.”

“Corewell’s decision underscores a disturbing pattern,” Knott said in a statement. “Institutions that should be at the forefront of providing compassionate, evidence-based care are instead retreating under political pressure, leaving vulnerable young people to shoulder the harm. This is not just a matter of policy, it’s a matter of lives.”

Knott emphasized that gender affirming care for minors remains legal in the state, and that Equality Michigan would not stop fighting to expand access.

At the end of August, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel reissued an open letter and renewed guidance to health care providers emphasizing Michiganders’ right to seek and receive healthcare services without discrimination.

This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license. 

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