UI Health is suspending gender-affirming surgeries for patients younger than 19 starting on Friday, further shrinking access to trans medical care for young people in Chicago.
The University of Illinois health system on the Near West Side posted a statement on its website and emailed patients and families about the sudden change.
“After careful review of recent federal government actions, UI Health has made the following changes to its gender-affirming surgical services,” the health system said online.
In an email to patients and families obtained by WBEZ, UI Health hospital and clinic leaders wrote that patients who previously scheduled surgeries and those “working toward surgery” would need to wait until they turn 19.
“We understand these changes may be difficult, and we are here to support you,” the email said. “Our team is committed to working with each affected patient and family to determine the best path forward for their care. We remain deeply committed to providing inclusive, respectful, and compassionate care to support every patient’s journey. We are closely monitoring federal updates to determine if or when to resume the full suite of services to patients under age 19.”
Hospitals in Chicago started scaling back gender-affirming care earlier this year after an executive order on Jan. 28 from the Trump administration. Medical professionals across the U.S. are “maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” the order said. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.”
In February, Lurie Children’s Hospital near downtown Chicago became the first major local hospital to scale back gender-affirming care for young patients when it halted surgeries for those under 19. Many of Lurie’s patients were referred for surgery to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which then canceled their appointments.
In recent weeks, Rush University Medical Center on the Near West Side said it would no longer provide hormones for new trans patients under 18, and UChicago Medicine suddenly stopped all pediatric gender-affirming care. Many families were hoping to get appointments instead at UI Health, according to Asher McMaher, executive director of Trans Up Front Illinois, an advocacy organization.
Dozens of families and advocates have written to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, asking him to enforce state law and demand that hospitals keep providing treatment. The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits health care providers from discriminating against patients because of their gender identity.
In a recent statement, a spokeswoman for Raoul said federal agencies are using government resources to attack health care providers and “are driving a wedge between patients and the providers they need. The Attorney General’s office will take additional action soon to protect access to medically necessary health care for transgender patients.”
Trans Up Front Illinois has launched a rapid response team to connect families with private providers and cover the cost of everything from appointments to medication for gender affirming care.