Northwestern Medicine, a Leading Care Provider in Illinois, Quietly Cut Gender-Affirming Care For Patients Under 19 At Least Two Months Ago

Northwestern Medicine becomes the latest provider to capitulate to Trump's demands—and it did so unannounced.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago | Photo: Northwestern Medicine

Fueled by the nationwide pushback against gender-affirming care for minors, President Trump signed Executive Order 14187 in late January, instructing federal agencies to cut funding to organisations that offer gender-affirming care services for patients under the age of 19. Facing a loss of funding, a growing number of providers—among them Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente, and the University of Michigan—have at least partially restricted, and in many cases eliminated, their gender-affirming care programs for this age group.

As part of these capitulations, it was reported back in February that Northwestern Medicine—a major provider in Illinois with over 200 affiliated clinics and hospitals—and its associated Lurie Children’s Hospital had only stopped providing gender-affirming surgery to patients under 19. These partial cuts were highlighted by the White House in late July, where, in a press release touting the results of Trump’s actions against gender-affirming care, Northwestern Medicine was listed as being among those that only cut surgeries but not other treatments.

Now, Transitics has learned that Northwestern Medicine has refused patients under 19 any form of gender-affirming care for at least the past two months. This position was confirmed to Transitics by Northwestern Medicine, who stated in a letter that the organisation “complies with Executive Order 14187 and is not offering gender-affirming care to patients under the age of 19,” as well as by several affected patients.

Unlike other major providers who have stopped providing this care, Northwestern Medicine did not announce this policy change. However, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise: Northwestern University—which runs Northwestern Medicine—has been under heavy fire from the Trump administration and had $790 million of its federal grants frozen back in April. Amid this pressure, the university’s president resigned in early September, and it has been reported that Northwestern is trying to reach a deal to restore the funding.

It’s likely that Northwestern Medicine’s actions are related to these negotiations, as when other schools, like Brown, made deals with the Trump administration, they included clauses forcing the schools to comply with the order to end gender-affirming care for people under 19. And although a deal that involves restricting trans people’s healthcare, bathroom use, and housing is illegal in most Democratic-controlled states, that hasn’t stopped schools and hospitals from capitulating.

Moreover, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has even outright said he won’t “cast a negative eye” towards those that cut trans healthcare in an attempt to save their funding. This is despite the fact that the policy providers are being forced to adopt is entirely arbitrary, as 18 is the age of majority in Illinois and all but 3 other states. Yet, because providers like Northwestern Medicine are complying with this part of the order anyways, it’s highly likely that many wouldn’t push back should Trump decide to raise the minimum age even further.

Already, gender-affirming care providers in blue states have had to take on more patients to care for trans kids from states with active bans. Now, as more and more clinics acquiesce to Trump’s demands, the options for trans kids nationwide are shrinking fast. It’s up to providers to decide if they are willing to fight.