By Walt Heyer

The push to stop the medical “transing” of children — a combination of political, financial, and legal endeavors — is achieving some powerful and significant momentum.

Based on my personal 35 years of experience in finding freedom through Christ from transgender ideology after identifying as a female, and 20 years of writing and working with individuals seeking to get their lives back, I understand the intensity of the opposition and the opportunity we have now to safeguard children.

The legal pressure is evident in the impressive number of states that have passed laws protecting minors from chemical and surgical mutilation, 25 states as of 2025. I’ve testified at state capitols for the last 10 years with hard-working family advocates and courageous victims to pass state laws to protect children from permanent harm.

It’s a long slog going state by state, but the journey has built a strong foundation, tested the strength of the laws, exposed the harms, and built a strong coalition of parents, victims, and legislators willing to take on the transgender establishment. Then came events that accelerated the progress.

The Cass Report in the U.K. Leads to the Closure of the World’s Largest Clinic

In the U.K., whistleblowers came forward and prompted the National Health Services to review the services provided at their Tavistock pediatric gender clinic, the world’s largest.

Dr. Hilary Cass led the independent review, and her report called into question the entire practice of “gender affirming care.” Her investigation exposed the lack of evidence of safety or effectiveness. The report documented that the clinic disregarded pre-existing mental health issues, recklessly prescribed puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for youths, and neglected to track patient outcomes long-term. As a result, the government ordered Tavistock’s closure in 2022.

The Cass report triggered repercussions here in the United States.

Trump Executive Order Stops U.S. Funding

In January 2025, newly-elected President Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” that shut off the funding and facilitating of “transition” procedures on minors, ending reliance on what it calls “Junk Science.”

Seeing that term reminds me of meeting Dr. Paul McHugh about 15 years ago, a hero in the battle to shut down surgical interventions for people who think they should be the opposite sex. In his office at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. McHugh showed me a stack of studies that claimed the hormones and surgeries given to trans-identifying people showed benefit, and then one by one, he showed me the study’s rating: “low quality evidence.” Now the administration’s executive order echoes Dr. McHugh’s observation: gender treatment relies on junk science.

Pursuant to the 2025 executive order, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a review. Initially released in May 2025 and finalized with a peer-reviewed report in November 2025, the HHS review “highlights a growing body of evidence pointing to significant risks — including irreversible harms such as infertility — while finding very weak evidence of benefit.”

HHS recommended that medical practitioners refuse to provide drugs and surgeries for gender-distressed youth, and instead address the co-occurring mental health conditions, provide counseling, and educate families about the substantial documented harms and the weak evidence for medical interventions.

Tennessee Law Stands after Case Escalates to the Supreme Court

In mid-2025, the Supreme Court upheld the Tennessee law to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy for teenagers with gender identity distress, strengthening the legal case for state bans and building the case for a nationwide ban.

Groundbreaking Malpractice Lawsuit Hits Financially

In February 2026, in a decision that should inspire injury lawyers but rattle medical professionals, a jury awarded $2 million to a victim of “gender affirming care” in a medical malpractice case. Fox Varian was 16 when her psychologist recommended she have a double mastectomy to remove her healthy breasts, and a surgeon obliged. Both the psychologist and surgeon were held liable for malpractice.

The Cumulative Effects

Together, the political, financial, and legal happenings provide strong incentives for providers to curtail the mutilation of children.

In July 2025, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles closed its center for “trans” youth that provided puberty blockers, hormones, and surgical procedures to children — apparently due to the administration withholding 65-70% of federal Medicare and Medicaid funds.

In the first two months of 2026, about a half dozen U.S. gender clinics announced they would pause or discontinue some treatment programs for minors, according to The Epoch Times.

Last month, Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas attorney general, agreed to stop giving gender distressed minors puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, and to establish a facility to help people harmed by the procedures.

Urge Congress to Act Now to Make It Permanent

As inspiring as the progress may be, unless Congress acts with federal legislation, the executive order will only last as long as the administration, and then the funding and promotion of what the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services describes as the “dangerous chemical and surgical mutilation of children” will resume.

To stop this atrocity at the federal level, Congress should act to pass the Chloe Cole Act. The act prohibits health care professionals, hospitals, or clinics from engaging in “gender change” practices on children and extends the deadline for filing medical liability cases to 25 years after their 18th birthday.

You can support the Chloe Cole Act by contacting your members of Congress here. 

If You Know Someone Who Identifies as Transgender, Get This Resource

The FRC resource, “Embracing God’s Design,” equips believers to compassionately come alongside those questioning their gender identity. See the website, embracethedesign.com, for information on this easy-to-read book and access to the companion videos.

There is hope and redemption for every single person through Jesus Christ even after hormones and surgery. The Lord Jesus awaits with arms wide open. Learn how magnificent and life-changing a relationship with Jesus is.

Walt Heyer serves as Senior Fellow in the Center for Family Studies at Family Research Council.

This article originally appeared here.