Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago is pausing gender-care surgeries for patients younger than 19 as Republican President Donald Trump threatens to cut federal funding from providers who offer this type of care.
Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 28 that said the U.S. “will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
Lurie is a destination for the most medically complex children and has one of the oldest gender-affirming programs in the country. The hospital relies heavily on government funding to operate.
In a statement, Lurie spokeswoman Julianne Bardele said Trump’s order prompted the pause.
“As part of our comprehensive review of the Executive Order, we have made the difficult decision to pause gender care surgeries within the gender care program for all patients under the age of 19 as we work to understand the rapidly evolving environment,” the statement read. “We are continuing to provide other care and treatment plans for the program’s patients, as we monitor further developments on this issue.”
That includes hormone therapy and puberty blockers to delay changes to a person’s body, for example. Lurie also is helping patients find other hospitals where they can have their surgeries performed.
More than half of Lurie’s pediatric patients are low income and covered by public Medicaid health insurance. In 2024, Lurie had a roughly $45 million operating loss, financial records show.
Democratic Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has vowed to protect access to gender-affirming care.
“Gender-affirming care is essential, lifesaving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves,” Raoul said in a statement this week.
In Illinois, the Human Rights Act requires health care providers to offer medical care to all residents and prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex, including gender identity, Raoul’s statement read.
Still, Lurie is pausing surgeries for the time being. In a recently filed lawsuit, UI Health in Chicago was accused of canceling an Illinois teen’s chest surgery in the wake of Trump’s executive order. Treatments and surgeries for transgender youth have stopped elsewhere in the country, including in California and in Colorado.
More than two dozen states have limited access to gender-affirming care, and nearly 40% of trans youth live in one of these states, according to the nonpartisan KFF, a health policy research organization.
Kristen Schorsch covers public health and Cook County for WBEZ.