Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s renowned medical center, announced this week that it will no longer offer gender-affirming hormonal therapies and puberty blockers to patients under the age of 19. The move, made public on Monday, August 25, 2025, marks a significant shift in the landscape of transgender healthcare for youth in Michigan and has drawn national attention, fierce debate, and a flurry of legal and political responses.
The decision comes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration, which in January 2025 issued an executive order aiming to end federal support for gender-affirming care for minors. According to Nexstar Media, Inc., Michigan Medicine’s transgender services webpage was promptly updated to reflect the new policy: “In response to unprecedented legal and regulatory threats to our clinicians and our institution, we have made the difficult decision to stop prescribing puberty blockers and gender affirming hormones for patients under age 19.” The hospital emphasized, “We understand how impactful these changes will be to many of you. Your safety and well-being is important to us, and we are committed to supporting you during this challenging time.”
While Michigan Medicine will continue to provide all other appropriate care for transgender youth, the suspension of these particular treatments has sent shockwaves through affected families and the broader medical community. The policy does not affect patients aged 19 and older, but for many families, the sudden change has upended carefully planned medical care.
“A countdown clock is ticking for Alex’s daughter,” reported MLive, highlighting the distress and anger among families of transgender youth. Parents like Alex, whose names have been changed to protect privacy, say their children’s well-being and futures are now in limbo. The article underscores the heightened concerns about safety and privacy for these families as they navigate a rapidly shifting medical landscape in Michigan.
Michigan Medicine’s decision was not made in a vacuum. In July, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent over 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics “involved in performing transgender medical procedures on children,” according to Breitbart News. Michigan Medicine was among the institutions subpoenaed. The subpoenas demanded confidential patient information and records dating back to January 2020—a period before any state had enacted bans on gender-affirming care for minors. The DOJ’s investigation, as described in court filings, is focused on alleged “healthcare fraud, false statements, and more.”
Facing what it described as “escalating external threats and risks,” Michigan Medicine explained its rationale in a public statement: “We recognize the gravity and impact of this decision for our patients and our community. We are working closely with all those impacted, and we will continuously support the well-being of our patients, their families, and our teams.” The hospital also expressed gratitude to its clinicians “for their unyielding commitment to providing the highest quality care.”
Not everyone welcomed the news. DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle, in a post to X (formerly Twitter), celebrated Michigan Medicine’s announcement as a “massive win for children’s safety and for common sense.” Mizelle declared, “For months, the Justice Department has been investigating hospitals and health systems that have been surgically and chemically mutilating children under the guise of ‘gender-affirming care.’ Today, the University of Michigan announced that it ‘will no longer provide gender affirming hormonal therapies and puberty blocker medications for minors.’ This is a MASSIVE win for children’s safety and for common sense.” He added that this is not an isolated case: “Per ABC, the University of Michigan is just the latest of 20+ hospitals and health systems that have ended or restricted so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ since January.”
Since President Trump’s executive order in January, nearly two dozen hospitals nationwide have suspended transition-related care for minors, according to Nexstar Media, Inc.. The White House even released a list in July highlighting 21 hospitals that had paused such care for patients under 19. The executive order also seeks to withhold federal funding from hospitals that provide gender transition care to minors and prohibits the government from promoting what it calls “gender ideology.”
But legal pushback has been swift and determined. In February, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the January 28 executive order, ruling that a group of transgender teens and LGBTQ organizations were likely to succeed in arguing that the order—along with another prohibiting the government from promoting “gender ideology”—was without authority and amounted to illegal and unconstitutional discrimination. Litigation is ongoing, and the partial block has not fully resolved the uncertainty faced by hospitals and families.
More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general, including Michigan’s Dana Nessel, have sued the Trump administration over the executive order and the DOJ’s subpoenas. Nessel did not mince words in her criticism of Michigan Medicine’s decision: “The announcement from the University of Michigan that they will no longer provide their transgender patients with all of the healthcare options available is shameful, dangerous, and potentially illegal,” she said in a press release. “This cowardly acquiescence to political pressure from this president and his administration is not what patients have come to expect from an institution that has labeled itself, ‘the leaders and the best,’ and my Department will be considering all of our options if they violate Michigan law.”
Nessel further argued, “This administration draws most of its power from the willingness of its targets to capitulate without a fight, abandoning their own principles and interests, and throwing disfavored populations under the bus. Despite repeated successful legal challenges to actions by this administration, UM has chosen instead to sacrifice the health, well-being, and likely the very lives of Michigan children, to protect itself from the ire of an administration who, oftentimes, engages in unlawful actions itself.”
Arkansas was the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors in April 2021, but the current wave of hospital policy changes reflects a much broader federal effort. The DOJ’s investigation, with its demand for comprehensive patient records, has raised concerns about patient privacy and the chilling effect on care providers. For families like Alex’s, the disruption is immediate and deeply personal. The fear of losing access to necessary medical care is compounded by worries about safety and confidentiality as legal and political battles play out.
As the legal wrangling continues and political rhetoric intensifies, the fate of gender-affirming care for minors in Michigan—and across the country—remains uncertain. Hospitals are caught between regulatory threats, legal ambiguity, and the urgent needs of their patients. For now, Michigan Medicine’s policy change stands as a flashpoint in a national debate that shows no sign of abating. The coming months will likely see further legal challenges, political statements, and, above all, the continued struggle of families seeking care for their transgender children in a shifting and often hostile environment.
