According to the Daily Caller, some children’s hospitals across the country are continuing to provide so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors — despite an executive order removing federal funding for such “care.”
Indeed, the Daily Caller reports that dozens of federally-funded hospitals — including one in Kansas — continue to provide gender-affirming care to children.
“More than three dozen hospitals that offer sex changes to minors and also receive federal funding told the Daily Caller that they are still providing services including puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, or surgeries to people under the age of 18,” Senior Editor Amber Duke wrote.
The University of Kansas Health System is on the Daily Caller list of those hospitals.
A member of the Daily Caller’s staff called pretending to be a parent looking for “gender-affirming care” for their minor and spoke with a staff member.
Duke provided the Sentinel with a transcript of that call in which a staff member stated such care was, indeed, available.
“My name is [Redacted]. How may I help you?” the transcript reads.
The Caller’s staff member then asked, “I was just wondering if you guys offer gender-affirming care services for trans youth, like things like hormone therapy or hormone blockers or surgeries.”
The employee replied, “Yes, we do.”
Officials with the University of Kansas Health System said they “follow the law” and do not provide gender-affirming care.
“We do not provide puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapies, or surgeries to minors,” KU Health System Director of Media Relations Jill Chadwick said in an email exchange after the Sentinel pointed to the transcript of a call between a member of the Caller and an employee of the health system. “We follow the law — or in this case, the executive order.”
The Sentinel forwarded Chadwick’s response to the Caller to get their reaction. Duke proceeded to call the Health Resource Center, pretending to be the parent of a 13-year-old girl seeking care to see if she got a different response.
Duke provided the audio of the call in which the employee confirmed that KU Health System does, in fact, provide such care.
“I’m the parent of a trans daughter, and I’m trying to look for a place that I can get her on puberty blockers. Is that something that you all provide?” Duke asked.
The employee replied, “Yes, we do have a gender-affirming clinic. Is your daughter a patient currently?”
“No, not currently,” Duke replied. “She’s looking to get started in the process. She has a referral from a mental health professional.”
The employee then asked for her first and last name. Duke replied that she was not ready to make an appointment
“I basically just wanted to make sure you all provide the service, and she was gonna decide where she wants to go,” Duke said. “So she’s, she’s 13 right now, so that’s the only thing I was worried about, is making sure she could come in.”
The reply? “Yes, we do have the service … adolescents as well.
Additionally, the Trump executive order is currently on hold, pending court challenges, but as of February 20, 2025, Kansas law prohibits so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors.
On February 19, lawmakers overrode Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of SB 63, the so-called “Help Not Harm Act.” The law became effective once published in the Kansas Register.
Among other things, the act:
- Restricts use of state funds to promote gender transitioning;
- Prohibits professional liability insurance from covering damages for healthcare providers that provide gender transition treatment to children;
- Requires professional discipline against a healthcare provider who performs such treatments; and:
- Adds violation of the act to the definition of unprofessional conduct for physicians
Duke said her research team also contacted Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, Missouri, and was told that according to Missouri State law, the hospital does not provide “gender-affirming care.”
The Caller also contacted a list of transgender health providers which receive federal funding, compiled by the Trans Health Project.
Database shows several hospitals and providers were providing “gender-affirming care” prior to law’s passage
There were 93 juvenile patients receiving gender-affirming treatment in Kansas, 22 of whom have had surgery and 71 of whom are on puberty blockers, according to a database launched on Oct. 8, 2024, by the national policy group “Do No Harm.“
The Do No Harm database shows that several facilities in the Sunflower State have been providing prescriptions and surgeries to minors seeking gender-affirming treatment.
For instance, Saint Luke’s South Surgery Center in Overland Park has had seven surgery patients at a total billing of $156,547.
Stormont Vail in Topeka has had the most pediatric sex change patients, treating 18 patients with hormones or puberty blockers. The University of Kansas Hospital comes in second with 17 patients, eight of whom have had surgery and nine of whom are on hormones or puberty blockers.
In total, Kansas hospitals and clinics have billed out $301,097 between 2019 and 2023, the last year for which figures were available.
Nationwide, since 2019, 13,994 children received sex change-related treatments; 5,747 sex change surgeries have been performed on children; 62,682 hormone and puberty blocker prescriptions were written for 8,579 pediatric patients, and at least has $119,791,202 made from sex change treatments performed on minors.
