RFK Jr. Tells Doctors to Discard Unscientific Guidelines Promoting Child Gender Transitions
The Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to health care providers urging them to discard discredited research on child gender transitions.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy told health care providers, risk managers, and state medical boards to heed his department’s recent review of child sex changes, which determined the irreversible procedures can cause significant harm, including sterilization.
“The Hippocratic Oath lays down the foundational commitment for the medical profession: ‘First, do no harm,’” Kennedy wrote. “The Review makes clear that ‘the evidence for benefit of pediatric medical transition is very uncertain, while the evidence for harm is less uncertain.’ For this reason, the Review states that when ‘medical interventions pose unnecessary, disproportionate risks of harm, healthcare providers should refuse to offer them even when they are preferred, requested, or demanded by patients.’”
HHS sent a letter to health care providers, risk managers, and state medical boards urging immediate updates to treatment protocols for minors with gender dysphoria based on HHS’ comprehensive review that found puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries have very weak… pic.twitter.com/tj2mtx3Pq9
— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) May 28, 2025
Providers should disregard the “World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People,” Kennedy said.
WPATH, a controversial organization that transgender advocates and health agencies use to justify transgender medical interventions, frames itself as the leading expert organization on medical care for people who identify as transgender. It has faced criticism for advocating experimental practices that ignore serious concerns about informed consent and long-term side effects.
