Out Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) has introduced The Transgender Health Care Access Act, a bill that directs the Secretary of Health to award three-year grants to medical schools, hospitals, clinics, or centers that research and teach about gender-affirming care.

Balint introduced the legislation on the Trans Day of Visibility: it has nearly 30 Democratic co-sponsors, and seeks to address the lack of education about gender-affirming medical care that can block trans individuals from receiving necessary treatment.

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While the legislation is unlikely to pass through the Republican-led Congress, it works against the current presidential administration’s executive orders seeking to defund institutions that teach about and provide gender-affirming care.

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Balint’s bill would allocate $10 million annually to carrying out her legislation’s directives. The research resulting from the grants would be distributed by the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health in collaboration with medical education accrediting organizations.

Within two years of the act going into effect, the Secretary of Health would have to issue a report detailing the programs and activities implemented under the grants, the degree to which those have improved health equity for trans people, and further recommendations for improving trans people’s access to quality gender-affirming healthcare.

“As Republicans use their power to take away health care and continue to attack and dehumanize trans folks, I’m not standing down. That’s why I’m introducing this bill to expand access and train more providers,” Balint said in a statement, according to The Hill.

The president and Republicans have tried to eradicate gender-affirming care, especially for youth, and to erase any legal recognition of trans people. The president has signed executive orders banning any federal recognition of trans identities and threatening to defund any institutions that promote gender-affirming care. Two federal judges have blocked the implementation of the latter order. 

In her bill, Balint noted that a survey of students at 10 medical schools showed that approximately 80% of students did not feel competent at treating trans patients. This educational gap creates a significant barrier to appropriate health care for trans people, Balint wrote.

“Republicans are obsessed with attacking trans people. It’s dangerous. Over and over again, they use messages designed to get Americans to fear one another and to divide us,” Balint continued in her statement. “But I want queer and trans Americans to know you have fighters and allies in Congress.”

Twenty-seven states currently have bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth, and six of them make the provision of such care a felony. The Supreme Court will issue a decision this summer on whether these bans violate the Constitution.

In a statement about Balint’s bill, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, Advocates for Trans Equality Executive Director, said, “This bill is an affirmative declaration of the importance of this care as a legitimate and valued public health priority – and one worthy of investment. It firmly declares that this care is a crucial and medically necessary aspect of healthcare delivery, which must be prioritized in order to properly serve patients. This bill also honors the providers who are already engaged in providing this care by affirming the value of this care and the value of the expertise that they demonstrate.”

Balint wrote that gender-affirming care, especially for trans youth, is recommended by all of the following major medical organizations:

• The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• The American Academy of Dermatology
• The American Academy of Pediatrics
• The American Academy of Physician Assistants
• The American Medical Association
• The American Nurses Association
• The American Association of Clinical Endocrinology
• The American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry
• The American College Health Association
• The American College of Nurse-Midwives
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists American College of Physicians
• The American Counseling Association
• The American Heart Association
• The American Medical Student Association
• The American Psychiatric Association
• The American Psychological Association,
• The American Society of Reproductive Medicine
• The American Urological Association
• The Endocrine Society
• The Federation of Pediatric Organizations
• GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality
• The Journal of the American Medical Association
• The National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health
• The National Association of Social Workers
• The Pediatric Endocrine Society
• Pediatrics (The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics)
• The United States Professional Association for Transgender Health (USPATH)
• The World Health Organization (WHO)
• The World Medical Association
• The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)

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