Federal subpoenas and CDC inquiries have targeted medical professionals and organizations involved in gender-affirming care for minors, generating widespread fear among providers. Hospital administrations removed provider information from websites, and clinicians in private practice stopped using email and unencrypted texts to communicate. Some subpoena recipients avoided sharing documents or discussing treatment practices because of fears of government tracking. A seven-page filing to a children’s hospital demanded records dating to 2020, before many state bans. Over 120,000 trans youth aged 13–17 live in 27 states with bans, while 17 states face lawsuits challenging such legislation.
Providers in private practice say they stopped using email and unencrypted text messages to communicate with each other. Some who received the subpoenas said they were too afraid to share them with colleagues who do similar work, out of fear that the government was tracking them. Medical providers who once were open to being interviewed about their treatment practices said they were afraid to discuss the subpoenas even on the condition of anonymity and on encrypted platforms such as Signal.
The seven-page filing to CHOP also requested documents from as far back as 2020, demanding files from before states started putting bans on puberty blockers and hormone therapy. (Arkansas was the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors in 2021.) As of July, the Human Rights Campaign reports over 120,000 trans youth (aged 13-17) are living in the 27 states with bans on gender-affirming care, with some 17 states facing lawsuits challenging such legislation.
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