Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has a long history of opposing LGBTQ+ rights, issued a memo to the Department of Justice (DOJ) telling employees to investigate and prosecute cases of minors accessing gender-affirming care as female genital mutilation (FGM).

“The Department of Justice will not sit idly by while doctors, motivated by ideology, profits, or both, exploit and mutilate our children,” the memo states. “Under my watch, the Department will act decisively to protect our children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of care.”

Related

Mississippi Supreme Court blocks name changes for trans people under 21
Judges said trans adults aren’t “mature” enough to change their names, even if their parents consent. Meanwhile, the state allows 15-year-olds to marry.

“I am putting medical practitioners, hospitals, and clinics on notice: In the United States, it is a felony to perform, attempt to perform, or conspire to perform female genital mutilation on any person under the age of 18. That crime carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years per count. I am directing all U.S. Attorneys to investigate all suspected cases of FGM—under the banner of so-called “gender-affirming care” or otherwise—and to prosecute all FGM offenses to the fullest extent possible.”

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

It’s unclear what that part of the memo will do, since gender-affirming genital surgery isn’t performed on minors in the U.S. Under federal law, FGM is defined as “partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” The only case of gender-affirming care cited in the memo involved a mastectomy.

The memo goes on to say that the DOJ will go after “on- or off-label use of puberty blockers, sex hormones, or any other drug used to facilitate a child’s so-called ‘gender transition'” as a violation of consumer protection laws. Bondi directed the Civil Division’s Fraud Section to investigate the use of puberty blockers as a violation of the False Claims Act and accused hospitals of performing gender-affirming genital surgery on minors “while billing Medicaid for an entirely different procedure.”

The memo tells the department to ignore the medical recommendations of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the medical organization that sets standards of care for the treatment of gender dysphoria, saying that the group “muzzled dissenting members,” a common accusation against scientific organizations that produce recommendations that the right doesn’t like.

The memo does not discuss circumcision or genital surgeries often performed on intersex children in order to make their bodies conform to stereotypes of what male or female genitalia should look like.

Gender-affirming care is supported by all major medical associations in the U.S., including the American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as safe and life-saving for young people with gender dysphoria.

Williamette University Constitutional Law professor Robin Maril said that Bondi’s memo doesn’t create any new laws, and the parts about fraud are already part of how the DOJ handles the law.

“The bulk of this is just showing how they’re going to use resources and investigate,” she told NBC News. “That’s not a law change. It’s meant to have a chilling effect on physicians providing access to necessary care, fearing that it will be characterized as chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”

The memo comes after the president signed an executive order in January to ban gender-affirming care, even though the president doesn’t have the authority to do so. The executive order told federal departments to look for ways to fight against gender-affirming care, even though Congress has not banned the practice despite bills to ban it being introduced several times over the past few years.

Several courts have already blocked the executive order from going into effect.

Also this week, Bondi convened the first meeting of the administration’s “anti-Christian bias” task force. She started the meeting by saying that President Joe Biden – a devout Catholic – had “abused and targeted Christians,” citing a 2023 FBI memo about threats posed by anti-choice protestors.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.