Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., announced last Friday that it will end gender-affirming care for its patients in August. The hospital joins a growing list of children’s medical providers withdrawing care for trans youth.

The decision to shut down the hospital’s Gender Development Program comes in the midst of the Trump administration’s crusade against transgender identity, starting with the president’s January 28 executive order on “Protecting Children from Chemical And Surgical Mutilation,” and follows the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) subpoenas issued July 9 to nearly 20 doctors and clinics that provide gender-transition care.

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DOJ is also going after drug companies that manufacture transition-related medication.

Children’s National didn’t confirm whether the hospital was among those subpoenaed by DOJ.

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“We recognize the impact this has had on you and your family, and we are here to support you,” reads a message the hospital sent to families that was obtained by The Washington Post. “Our care teams are available to assist you as you move forward.”

The note added the hospital will no longer evaluate trans patients for gender-affirming medication or monitor those results through testing like bloodwork.

A statement on the hospital’s website said Children’s National providers will discontinue the “prescription of gender-affirming medications” on August 30.

“Mental health and other support services for LGBT patients remain available. You are always welcome at Children’s National for your other medical needs,” the hospital said on its website, addressing existing and new patients and their families.

A list of services and a description Children’s National Gender Development Program and its providers remains online.

That isn’t the case for several hospitals and other providers that have ended or announced the termination of gender-affirming care programs under threat from the Trump administration and its federal departments and agencies.

The Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, the largest program of its kind in the country, confirmed last week that it will shut down today, after its earlier announcement defying Trump’s executive order.

The closure comes weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, a win for the administration and the 25 states that have already passed similar bans.

Several hospitals have “paused” the transitional youth care following Trump’s executive order banning it, but with no clear enforcement mechanism, the hospitals stopped short of canceling theor programs altogether.

A judge’s order in March temporarily halting Trump’s executive order to deny federal funding to such hospitals gave providers some hope that those programs could be spared.

But following the Supreme Court’s Skrmetti decision allowing Tennessee’s ban, providers across the country are coming to grips with dual attacks: threats to end vital federal funding for hospitals (in the form of grants and participation in Medicare and state Medicaid programs), and a legal landscape newly hostile to the rights of trans youth and their families as they navigate medical decisions in the face of government scrutiny.

Children’s National joins a growing list of providers ending their trans youth gender-affirming care programs in recent weeks, including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, University of Chicago Medicine, Stanford Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and others.

Ben Takai, board president of Metro DC PFLAG, called the move by Children’s National sad but not surprising.

“There are many ways to bully minority populations,” Takai told The Post. “This is one of those ways.”

The group is offering advice and support to families affected by the Gender Development Program’s closure.

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